Ten Tailed Jaguar
by demonic blood shed666
Summary: Shukaku's gone but Gaara's alive...what's happening? He's gone but Gaaras body and mind are being corrupted by something deep within his blood. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Pairings: narugaa shikatem and whoever else you guys want me to pair up

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

The first chapter and maybe the second takes place in the rescue Gaara arc

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

Chapter 1

Stay low

Soft, dark, and dreamless

Far beneath my nightmares and loneliness

I hate me

For breathing without you

I don't want to feel

Anymore for you

Sakura Haruno inhaled deeply, letting her eyes close. Her blazing green eyes opened at the same time she parted her lips letting out her silent exhale. She stood taught on the water's surface, her fist clenched and glowing slightly as the howling wind fluttered her short pink hair. The sun was overhead, and seemed to be beneath the powerful kunoichi's feet as well, a mirror reflection casting off the clear liquid. Tree limbs danced their leaves that clutched to their branches like parasites or hair fluttered in the breeze behind her.

Kakashi Hatake, the copy cat ninja who used to be the girls sensei was in front of her, his hand gripping the paper on the rock. He was kneeling on the stone, his chakra keeping him there, horizontal to the water, his reflection twitching in the water's soft movements. His silver spiky hair seemed to completely ignore the law of science and evade gravity, as well as the wind.

Elder Chiyo was to her left, her suna robes fluttering as her wrinkled face scrunched in on itself in determination. Her dark eyes were fixed on the large boulder, her old hands clenched into tight fists. No doubt the older woman was thinking on just how to prepare herself for the meeting with her grandson, Sasori of the Red Sands. The same grandson that she had not seen for thirty years.

Across from the elder and on the right side of Sakura was a jinchurriki. Blond hair glowing in the sun, enveloping his head in such a way it made it look like a halo was Naruto Uzumaki. Like Sakura he too, was an old pupil of Kakashi but, had left the leaf village for two years to train with his new sensei, Jiraya. The pupils in those deep blue eyes were reduced to slits, his teeth clenched and bared as he downright glared at the obtrusive boulder. Unlike the others his fists were shaking, his chakra thrumming beneath his flesh like distant thunder. He was preparing himself, for the battle that would most definitely take place in only a few minutes time.

Sakura could sense the onslaught of emotions emanating from his still form in waves. The _anger_, positively boiling rage from the situation they were in. The distressed, unabashed fear coming from the same dire situation. They were mixing and pooling within him, these emotions, causing his chakra to be pulled back to its tightest point, like the drawback of the birth of an extremely powerful tsunami that promises to go further than any has had before.

Team Gai, which consisted of the two handsome, happy go lucky, youthful, handsome green beasts of Konoha, Might Gai and Rock Lee. The controlled, nicer and not so fate rested Neji Hyuga and the walking, living arsenal of weapons Tenten. They had left, no more than five minutes ago for the other four tags that held the barrier between them and Gaara strong.

Grieving for you

I'm not grieving for you

Nothing that real love can't undo

And though I may have lost my way

All paths lead straight to you

Gaara of the Desert.

That name could cause shivers and tremors to break and contort even of the strongest of shinobi's bodies. The boy whose name means demon that loves only itself, and the name in which people had come to correlate it directly to blood and death. The boy whose red hair was as deep and bright as the very life source of blood that ran through their veins. Green eyes that held onto so much hate, able to stay into such a piercing glare that it made even the cocky and rather frightening Neji back down. The fifteen year old boy who had believed for the first twelve years of his life that his purpose was to _kill _everyone that got in his path. The child who was possessed while he was still a fetus and was host to the Ichibi, the one tailed Shukaku, the demon that prevented him from sleeping his entire life. The boy who had only resently found out that there is more to life than killing others and had even become the Kazekage, the leader of the village hidden in the sand.

It was almost impossible to comprehend that such a child could be in fatal trouble. The demon was being extracted and according to Chiyo, would distribute to his death. This is what scared and angered Naruto. The two of them had an incredibly strong bond, even though they spend very little time together and only see each other on missions. They were two of a kind, each of them being able to understand each other better than anyone else could. They knew each other's pain, both being sought by Ataksuki purely because they had demons place within their bodies. And those bastards had sunk their deadly, vicious claws into Gaara, who's so emotionally withdrawn he could be considered to be even shyer than Hinata Hyuga, Neji's cousin who stutters when she speaks and nearly faints every time Naruto looks her way. They had to save him.

There was a slight blaring sound and Kakashi tightened his hold on the tag. No doubt Gai and the others had found theirs and were getting ready to tear them off, erasing the five sealed barrier that required each of the tags to be removed at the same exact time. Considering the usual team only had four ninja it was incredibly wise of Tsunade, the lady Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves to send two teams. The copy cat ninja lifted his other hand and pointed his index finger at Sakura, telling her in that gesture to get ready, the young woman nodded and fixed her intimidating gaze on the section of the rock that lay at eye level. That would be where she would strike. The chakra glowed brighter than ever around her raised fist and the muscles in her thighs and shins tightened, getting ready to spring forward.

Naruto and Chiyo braced themselves, getting ready to jump into the cave and fight for Gaara. Kakashi swung his hand down at the same time he tore the tag from the rock. Sakura roared as she ran, raising her fist, Kakashi threw himself off of the boulder at the same time her fist connected with it. Her chakra threaded through the rock, tearing through the hard earth, making it shred and crumble with 'ker-klacking' sounds.

As the debris and dust cleared the two male ninja and the two kunoichi jumped into the air, landing in the darkness of the cave. Sunlight streamed into the cave, the little light casting shadows on the walls and water logged floors. There were continuous splashes as bits of the rock landed in the water behind them. In the center of the room, facing them was two Ataksuki members. One was extremely round, looking wooden and fake, the other had long blond hair thrown into a ponytail, half of it hanging in front of what looked to be a mechanical eye. The sleeve of his black, red clouded cloak of his left arm was bloody, the limb looking crushed, proving that Gaara hadn't gone down without a fight. A smug look was in his blue eye and a disgustingly pleased and smug smirk graced his thin lips.

I long to be like you

Lie cold in the ground like you

Naruto froze, sucking in a shaky breath, his eyes widening to the size of plants and shining with pure animalistic panic. The blond…he was…sitting on the Kazekage's chest, Gaara who was lying completely still. Naruto's canines grew as he looked at the still form of his friend, not foreign feelings twisting his gut as a powerful stinging took up behind his eyes. Those black lids were closed, giving everyone who didn't know him the false pretense of sleep.

The blond Ataksuki member chuckled before snidely remarking to his companion, "I wonder which is the jinchurriki, yeah."

Kakashi closed his visible eye as dread and foreboding filled his heart. So, we were too late.

Chiyo kept her eyes locked upon those of her grandson's, who in turn seemed to want to contribute all he had into their staring contest. He didn't even say anything to the idiotic blond beside him.

Grandma Chiyo…

Sasori…

"You bastards…"

The words were whispered, barely spoken and yet everyone in the room shivered from them. They could all feel it now, the intense tsunami pulling back, rearing its hood like a giant cobra getting ready to strike.

"You bastards! I'll kill you!"

Chakra was practically bleeding from the boy who held the nine tailed fox, pure fury in its greatest form was laced within these five words and the walls of the cave shook from the massive power, the water rippling. Sakura watched in helpless fear and shock as she saw her childhood friend's blue eyes bleed crimson, the whiskers on his cheeks growing thicker and extremely jagged. The boy flexed his fingers, nails lengthening to strong incredibly sharp claws. He snapped his fangs together producing a clicking sound. Kakashi watched with his eye narrowed, wondering if Naruto would at least attempt to hold himself back, the blond Ataksuki members smirk widened to a wicked and sadistic grin.

"He's the jinchurriki, yeah."

Sasori grunted in agreement, only glancing at the enraged child for a moment before going back to stare at his grandmother. He twitched in his protective puppet at her unyielding, disappointed gaze.

"Gaara!" Naruto kept his eyes on the red head, unable to tear his gaze from the unresponsive Kazekage. "Oi Gaara, what are you doing sleeping at a time like this?!" Fear, Kami so much fear was entering his body he felt that he was going to shatter at any moment. "Are you listening? Gaara! Stand up! Wake up already! Fucking stop it already! It isn't funny!"

There still wasn't a fucking response! No movement! Nothing!

Halo

Blinding wall between us

Melt away and leave us all alone again

Humming, haunted somewhere out there

I believe our love can

See us through in death

Sakura watched as he took the smallest of steps forward and stretched out his hand, looking like a lost, frightened child reaching out for a parent or friend, trying to make them stay. She already knew what was wrong, why Gaara wasn't responding, and she knew that Naruto did as well deep down, but knowing him she knew that he refused to acknowledge it. Her eyes shone with unshed tears and she stretched out her own hand towards her friend, her heart aching for him.

"Get up! Gaara! Stop this!" Oh Kami, his voice was breaking, cracking and raising in pitch. He took another step forward but Kakashi's voice prevented him from taking another.

"You should know already Naruto." His compassion and sorrow was showing through his voice, and he wished that there was something that he could do.

The older blond replied with a chuckle in his voice. "Yeah, you know it already," he reached out his right hand towards Gaara's face, watchingNaruto for a reaction the whole time. "He's been dead for awhile now, yeah." With that said he tapped the back of his hand against Gaara's cheek, each tap with more force than the one before it to push emphasis into the fact.

Naruto froze, and the Kyuubi's chakra started to flow into his own. The sand…the sand isn't…it isn't stopping him… "Give him back," his voice was raspier now, breaking through with the promise to inflict pain. Red eyes flashed as he shouted at the beaming blond, "Give Gaara back! You bastards!"

He ran forward but stopped when there was a blur and Kakashi's body was in front of his own, preventing his raging self from going further. The grin on the blond Ataksuki members face slightly dimmed. "You have to hold yourself back Naruto! These guys infiltrated the sand and single handedly defeated the Kazekage! If you rush into things you'll get us all killed!"

"He's definitely the jinchurriki. 'He'll be the first to scream and charge at you', Itatchi actually described quite accurately yeah." He glanced at Sasori and his grin widened before throwing out his hand. There was a loud poof and then the squack of a bird of prey, before a large, white, clay bird displayed itself when the smoke cleared. Standing he cleared his throat and drawled, "Well, Sasori Donna, even though I know it'll piss you off rather thoroughly I think I'll take the Kazekage. Heh, it seems as if the jinchurriki wants his friend back yeah."

The bird swooped down and to Naruto's horror _ate _Gaara!

I long to be like you

Lie cold in the ground like you

There's room inside for two

And I'm grieving for you

I'm coming for you

Sasori growled, "Deidara, you could barely hold your own against that one!" he jerked his head towards the bird to indicate Gaara. "Besides its only one jinchurriki for each of us."

Deidara shrugged his shoulders and leapt onto the bird that immediately flapped at the air producing the sound of sails snapping, barely missing the ferocious attack of Sasori's tail. Ignoring the glare Deidara flew out of the cave, his eyes on the blond demon vessel who in turn was watching him. You better follow me jinchurriki.

Naruto followed at a run, forcing Kakashi to follow, leaving the two kunoichi's and puppet master.

(the fights are over they were too long and basically if everyone's seen shippuden then you know what happened.)

Kakashi, Gai, Lee, Neji and Tenten were all panting, Kakashi just barely managing to push Deidara's last attack into another dimension. Gai place a comforting hand on his rival's shoulder and Lee's voice drew their attention. "Ano…where are Naruto kun? And Sakura san?"

Kakashi closed his eyes tiredly and pushed his head band back over his sharingan. "Sakura and Elder Chiyo haven't come back yet. Naruto…" he trailed off and looked into the tree directly above him.

Suddenly there was a blur and in front of them was Naruto and a clone. Between them, each of the Naruto's supporting an arm was the limp form of the Kazekage. The group seemed unable to talk, and they didn't even attempt a conversation with Naruto, not with that far off look in his eyes.

There was another blur and Lee shouted enthusiastically, "Sakura san!" The pink haired kunoichi was huffing heavily and at their questioning glances she shook her head and held back tears. "Chiyo…she didn't make it…and she didn't want me to move her."

You're not alone

No matter what they told you

You're not alone

I'll be right beside you forevermore

Everyone was silent, taking in the news understanding that Chiyo would want to be with her grandson, but Naruto broke it. He looked hopefully at his childhood crush. "Sakura…" Looking at his desperate, crestfallen face and then to the body between the original and the clone she nodded.

The group left the forest going to a wide field where there was nothing but endless grass. The clone vanished after Naruto had placed Gaara gently on the ground belly up. Sakura probed lightly at his chest and neck, her face scrunched in concentration.

She looked down at the boys face. She had never seen him look so pieceful, and death should never be the cause of that piece. She had always been afraid of this misunderstood boy, never knowing if he was going to snap and start his homicidal spree again but, even he didn't deserve this. Looking at the ai tattoo on his forehead she wondered if that was what helped cause his demise, maybe if the villagers of the sand village loved him more they would have helped him out a bit more. Maybe he was shown true love when he was a child he would have never gone on the line of insanity and hatred.

She looked up at Naruto, knowing that he was going to be simply heartbroken because she couldn't save him. Naruto and Gaara, they were so similar. If Iruka, herself, and everyone else hadn't shown him love and affection, positive attention…would he have tried to kill people to prove his own existence as well? She looked down at the Kazekage, at his swollen black eyes. Would Naruto one day meet this very same end? Would he too, die at the hands of Ataksuki? The extraction of his demon? Tears falling down her face she stood and shook her head and backed off.

Naruto gulped, tears streaming thick down his face as he fell to his knees besides his friend. It wasn't fair, Gaara always faced things on his own, he had just broken through the dark place and now he was subjected to death. Why? Why couldn't he save the people he cared for the most? He was downright sobbing now, bawling for all he was worth as he clutched the cold bony hand.

There was a change in the wind, and the group felt as if they were about to have a very upsetting confrontation with Temari and Kankuro.

There was a sudden thrum and a pulse. Blood and black chakra flowed through veins and networks that were no longer supposed to work.

I long to be like you

Lie cold in the ground like you

There's room inside for two

And I'm not grieving for you

And as we lay in silent bliss

I know you remember me

I long to be like you

Lie cold in the ground like you

There's room inside for two

And I'm not grieving for you

I'm coming for you

Awe, I almost cried while writing this, though I did cry when I saw the shippuden episodes. The song was called 'Like You' by Evanescence and I will try to put a song in every chapter that I write. Please press that little button and review and I will try to update as soon as I can.

Ja ne


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Pairings: narugaa shikatem and whoever else you guys want me to pair up

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

The first chapter and maybe the second takes place in the rescue Gaara arc

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does and if anyone of you liked my other stories 'Shukaku's Release' and 'Nourishment of Blood' don't fret because I'm thinking about redoing them. BUT THE ONLY WAY I WILL IS IF YOU PROMISE TO REVIEW TO THEM!!! Ok then on with the story.

Chapter 1

On the ground I lay

Motionless in pain

I can see my life flashing before my eyes

Dead I fall asleep

Is this all a dream

Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare

Sakura was sitting in the medic's office, a cup of steaming hot dark coffee sitting in her lap, nestled between her hands, warming them. Her pink hair was frizzy from static of the machinery and her frantic, frazzled movement. Her eyes were bloodshot, dark bags beneath them and a weary look on her face to show that she had not slept properly for the last few nights. Her usual red dress was wrinkled and sunlight filtered in the room through the open windows behind her.

The white tiles were shiny, janitors only coming a couple of hours ago to give them a good wax job. Three other wheeled chairs were around her and she gazed carefully with narrowed eyes at the light blue slightly blinking screen in front of her. An empty needle cartridge was on the desk, its contents having been poured into the small tube that placed its products into the computer system that sent the verdict onto the screen attached to the wall. She had placed the substance into the system a mere hour ago, the results should be coming in soon, in a matter of minutes.

It's kind of funny, it's only been a week and a half-more specifically ten days-after they had returned the Kazekage back to his waiting village.

Flashback

The two oldest sand siblings (at least the oldest ones related to Gaara) were most likely mere minutes from reaching their small group and they dreaded the moment. Nothing is more unpredictable than family members finding out about their sibling or parents' death, especially if said sibling was the youngest. The pink haired kunoichi had turned her gaze from her friend's back, unable to look at the blond who was still sobbing out his anguish, his golden head now resting-more like buried-within the red head's heavily adorned chest. The rest of the group, even Neji, was staring at the blonde's back, pain and disappointment breaking in their own chests.

Gaara…Naruto screamed the name over and over in his mind as if by mentally praying it would bring him back. Gaara was his closest friend, an incredibly precious comrade, the only one who could truly understand him and the only one that he could honestly be himself around, a brother, whose bond they shared it seemed to extend far beyond friendship.

He…he was dead…forever out of his reach. If only he had gotten there faster, dealt with Itatchi quicker or simply bypassed going to the sand village all together…Maybe if he had done those things he would have gotten there in time, would have been able to save his precious friend. Kankuro, he had promised the older puppet master that he was going to take care of his baby brother, that he was going to save him, succeed where Kankuro had failed and bring him back. He broke his promise and wished with all of his heart that his friend's older siblings would beat him to a pulp, beat him so bad he would be too fucking terrified to ever go to the sand village again.

I will not die (I will not die)

I will survive

Back in the farthest recesses of Naruto's mind, in the dungeon with the waterlogged floors and little lighting the nine tailed fox looked at the lifeless body through his vessels eyes. His brat, his prison was acting so strangely, sure he had cried and screamed and hollered and blamed himself over the Uchiha's sudden insanity, Orochimaru's brainwashing to make him leave the leaf village for more power to kill his brother but…All of that was nothing compared to all of this. All of the emotion wafting from the boy's breaking heart was beginning to influence even him, corrupt him so much that even he felt pity for his blond. Though he did feel bad for Shukaku, that oversized raccoon was better off trapped within this red head's insane and slightly socially deranged child than locked up with a group of mad disturbing humans bent on using the biju for their attempts at world conquer.

There was a slight thud that made his red eyes open wide and then narrow down to dangerous slits, and he bared his teeth slightly. What was this? What the hell kind of chakra was this? It was evil and conniving but, held the feeling of morality, the overwhelming touch of despair, the horrible pain of someone who lived their entire life in nothing but fear anger pain and sadness. He huffed. He recognized it now, sure he couldn't connect it to anyone because there literally was no one to connect it to, not yet anyway. He could sense it perfectly, almost as if the chakra was actually slithering around him, taking shape and showing itself directly in front of him. It wasn't doing all of that but, he could sense it that well and none of the humans could? How the hell did that happen? Even the Hyuga hadn't seem to notice it. Not even Naruto.

He sighed. The reason that Kyuubi knew that chakra was because it was not unlike his own. This kind of chakra was the kind that he had created when his human counterpart had died. His human self had lived a life of pain, hating all humans, even himself for simply living. Humans' purpose in life is to inflict pain on others, to cause as much mayhem over every little thing that can be fought over. His human self had loved to play pranks on everyone, very similar to that of what Naruto used to do when he was younger. He was always called the annoying kitsune or troublesome kitsune, calling him possessed by a fox even though there wasn't a fox demon out there. At that time there had only been eight demons, the eighth of course having eight tails and being the most powerful.

However when he died it was in the most gruesome of ways. He was tortured, only when he was twenty, held to a wall by thick chains, with bamboo stakes impaling his thighs, ankles, wrists and shoulders. Thin needles, similar yet different to senbams (those throwing needles Haku used) were embedded in his flesh. They held together the strips of bloody flesh that the enemy had torn apart with whips and swords, knitting together his neck, torso and stomach. However, unfortunately all of the needles and stakes completely evaded his main arteries, only piercing the ones that could heal if given time, causing his time there to be oh so grueling. Even with the ones already in him there were more, incredibly sharp and very small double sided needles were in his face, kneading through his temples brushing against the thick skull protecting his brain and going through his lips, holding them together, only allowing a sliver of space left between each one. They closed his nostrils forcing him to breathe through the bloody slashes of the spaces between the needles in his lips. It was terribly bloody, his entire form soaked in the crimson liquid with flesh dripping off of bone and muscle.

I will not die, I'll wait here for you

I feel alive, when you're beside me

I will not die, I'll wait here for you

In my time of dying

The torture lasted for a month, and it was by far the worst month of his entire life. Each day they would interrogate him for answers on his village, and each day he refused to give them what they desired and for punishment they would slide the needles in deeper, put more in him or pulled back the chains, having them wrap around his shins and forearms so incredibly tight that they shaved the skin right off, leaving nothing but fleshy meat and freshly poured blood but that wasn't the worst of the tightening chains, with each drawback the thick metal would take the bones farther and farther from their sockets until they were holding on by their ligaments. He thought his teammates would come for him, refused to give answers because he convinced himself that they would come and rescue him from this hell, convinced himself that they didn't hate him enough to leave him there. His hopes were in vain.

He died there. In excruciating pain, mentally and physically but, his anger by far overpowered any pain he had been feeling. He had shed so many tears despite his will to not let the enemy see what it was they were doing to him, crying in pain yes but mostly anger, his tears hot and thick and made purely out of his blood. The only person he had for company was one of the enemy shinobi and all the man did was laugh at him, tell him how pathetic he was, how no one had even made an attempt to free him, despite all that he was doing for him, for the village that hated him.

He died in that place yes, with so much hatred and pain boiling within him, within his torn heart and shattered soul that he was brought back. Brought back as the nine tailed fox that instantly tore his so called home to shreds.

Yes, his newly formed chakra that day had been malevolent, deadly and strong but this chakra was stronger, more dangerous than his own and he was slightly surprised that none of the other humans recognized it or even noticed it yet.

Naruto gasped and gulped, his body shuddering as he inhaled sloppily through hot tears and dribbling snot. He didn't even notice that Kyuubi had drawn back as far as he could in his cage, didn't even sense the slight discomfort emanating from the demon fox. He swallowed his saliva in an attempt to chase away the lump that succeeded in cutting off his air supply. But, he knew that the newly found hold in his heart could only be fixed if Gaara came back to him.

Behind the black and orange clad ninja Neji stiffened. Luckily his teammates and Kakashi's team was still unable to read his body language and expressions. The long haired brunette had activated his byakugan not long ago and now he slightly wished that he hadn't. Looking through Naruto's body he was able to look into Gaara's, able to see the deceased boy's chakra networks, networks that should now have nothing in them. Something thick and dark was freely flowing through the thin vein-like passages, the Kazekage's heart beginning to slowly yet steadily beat, sending blood and chakra throughout the small body with each pulsation.

How the hell was this possible!?

On this bed I lay

Losing everything

I can see my life passing me by

Was it all too much

Or just not enough

Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare

Naruto's blue eyes snapped open wide and disbelieving. He…he felt…he was sure he felt and heard the soft pattern of a thumping heartbeat in the chest he was still leaning into. He blinked, his face feeling itchy from all of the tears, his eyes wide, puffy and bloodshot. The cold skin was rapidly warming getting higher in temperature with each flash of new blood pounding through the veins, sent straight from that beating heart, Gaara's temperature was rising until it was clearly out of the dangerous freezing zone and instead staying at the safe point. Naruto's head fell and rose with each shallow intake and exhale, rising and falling with Gaara's chest. Long, thin fingers wrapped around the hand that was holding the other's captive, returning the feeling.

Naruto lifted his head, ignoring the small yelp behind him as well as the new presences. The corners of his mouth were turning upwards in a watery smile as he looked in the not so pale, pale face. Bright orbs of vibrant, electrifying green were peeking at him through the prison lines of black. "Naruto…" the blond heard his name whispered in the incredibly raspy voice, the voice that was a bit too raspy than normal. Fresh tears spilled over whiskered cheeks but now they were tears of happiness and the small grin broke out in a blinding smile that absolutely radiated warmth.

"Gaara…"

The blond was suddenly pushed out of the way by another blond, this one being female with four distinctive pony tails on the back of her head, and with blue green eyes shining with concern. The large metal fan reflected the sun's dazzling light, causing Gaara to cringe away from the brightness of it.

"Gaara, how're you feeling?"

He grunted in response and pressed his weight into his elbows, trying to push himself into a sitting position. He was panting and on occasion a muscle would twitch and twinge, their revenge towards him for not moving for an entire day. Temari immediately cupped his upper arm and placed her other hand in between his shoulder blades, having him transfer some of his weight to her. "You shouldn't try moving around so much right now Gaara."

There were only two people in their group who weren't smiling. Neji and Sakura. Neji was too busy thinking about the chakra currently running through the Kazekage's veins and of course how no one seemed to notice. How couldn't they? But, he couldn't really feel it himself, in fact if not for his byakugan he would be as ignorant as the others but he still wouldn't be smiling. That's just not his thing.

I will not die (I will not die)

I will Survive

Sakura wasn't thinking about dark and evil chakra. Of course she was glad that Gaara was alive, glad that now Naruto wasn't going to break on her. But, how is this possible? Of her understanding Gaara had been dead for a complete day, and when she was checking his vitals for _anything _that might still be working she found _none._ No heartbeat, no breathing. So how was it that he somehow, miraculously came back to life?

Naruto on the other hand didn't care how it happened he was just glad that it did, his face was now clean of tears, seeing as how he wiped them off after Temari rather rudely pushed him away. The hole in his heart was already healing, already knitting itself back together now that Gaara was back and he almost giggled like a little girl about how he thought that now he didn't have to get beaten to a pulp by the scary Kankuro and Temari.

Gaara was glancing around the clearing. The leaf ninjas, Kankuro and Temari. He expected them to be there. The leaf because he had no doubt in his mind that immediately after his capture Baki had sent for help and his siblings because…well because they were his siblings, pretty self explanatory. But, the sheer amount of the sand ninja who were surrounding them…beaming and smiling at him…he didn't know what to say to that, didn't know what to even think. It made his heart hurt but…in a good way. Were they all here for him? Or is it wishful thinking?

"You're going to be the type of little brother that I always have to look out for aren't ya?" Kankuro's voice was amused, relieved and held a false scolding tone to it. Looking up at his big brother Gaara nearly cried. The puppet master was looking down at him smiling with so much love and warmth it almost made up for the years that he wasn't there. There was a loud sobbing sound coming from behind Kakashi and everyone turned to look at the young male shinobi who was sobbing childishly with his face hiding in the crook of his arm. "I…I wondered…if…the Kazekage w-would really…d-die."

He ended the sentence with a slight scream of pain and shock when-oh no not them-a girl slapped him on the back of the head rather harshly. "How dare you say that?! Lord Kazekage can't die!" The girl's scowl and glare morphed into an ogling look with her hands clasped together below her chin and stars in her eyes. "He's so handsome and elite-"

Matsuri cut her off with the exact same look on her face, "Don't forget how he's so cool and strong…" the girls ended up squealing (you know how Sakura looked in the first season when Kakashi's having her, Sasuke and Naruto introduce each other and she's saying what she likes, what her hobbies are, you get the point anyway that's how they look) and running towards Gaara who looked as if the devil himself, or in this case herself and herself wanted to eat him alive. Temari jumped in their way protecting her littlest brother from the girls' obsessive love, trying to ignore the "Next time you're in trouble I'll save you Kazekage sama!" "NO I WILL!"

Everyone burst into laughter except for Temari (she had to hold the practically rapid girls back why would she smile and laugh?) and Gaara who looked as if he preferred death over this.

I will not die, I'll wait here for you

I feel alive when you're beside me

I will not die, I'll wait here for you

In my time of dying

End flashback

Sakura took a sip from the coffee, closing her eyes as she did so, enjoying the hot liquid moving down her throat at the same time as she fought the urge to sleep. She had asked for a sample of Gaara's blood before they left for Konoha, to make sure that everything was working properly. With Shukaku gone it was completely possible to place the needle into Gaara's vein to draw the blood but the only issue was Gaara himself having the issue of having something metal in his body no matter how brief. She had promised them that as soon as she got results she would sent them over.

She had asked Lady Hokake for assistance or opinion in the least, but of course Tsunade was being Tsunade and she insisted that she'd check it all out later. Preferably that later would be when Sakura was finished with it and put it on paper. Sure Tsunade was considered to be the best medic ninja alive and she was Hokage of course she'd be busy but really! She should take on a little of her responsibilities damn it!

It had been a pretty eventful week so far after their arrival. Naruto nearly pissed himself when he saw just how big Akamaru had grown but, you can't really blame the guy. After all, the last time Naruto saw the puppy was when he could ride around on Kiba's head, now it was the other way around with Kiba riding on Akamaru's back. And of course there was the new member of their team to consider…

Sai…how to describe him? He looks rather gay, honestly what _guy_ goes around wearing a belly shirt? He was a very talented artist and used his drawings in his jutsus by bringing them to life and attacking the opponent, and he had quite the pretty face. Maybe not as pretty as Sasuke but he came to a close second and that is where his perks end. His personality is rotten, calling her a flat chest, ugly bitch and Naruto a eunuch crybaby.

Sakura was dragged from her silent musing when the monitor started beeping, saying that it was done sorting through the ex-jinchurriki's blood. She stared at the screen for a few minutes, eyes widening and a deep frown settling on her face as she deciphered the products it displayed.

Glass shattered as the cup fell from her limp hands sending gagged shards of glass and hot coffee across the floor.

I will not die, I'll wait here for you

I feel alive when you're beside me

I will not die, I'll wait here for you

In my time of dying

I will not die, I'll wait here for you

I feel alive when you're beside me

I will not die, I'll wait here for you

In my time of dying.

Yay, chapter 2 is finished XD. The song was 'Time of Dying' by Three Days Grace. I personally enjoyed writing Kyuubi's human self and by the way I've noticed that a lot of this is in Sakura's point of view but that'll change once we get to probably the next chapter maybe the fourth. The only reason why it's in her pov a lot right now is because the beginning really needs the medical point of view, Tsunade will be in the next chapter and it'll switch more onto her. Once the real action begins it'll be Naruto and Gaara and the rest of the gang kay?

In case someone doesn't know what eunuch is, it is what a boy is called when their anatomy is snip sniped (you know castration and stuff)

Please review and remember what I said about 'Shukaku's Release' and 'Nourishment of Blood'.


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Pairings: narugaa shikatem and whoever else you guys want me to pair up

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

The first chapter and maybe the second takes place in the rescue Gaara arc

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does and if anyone of you liked my other stories 'Shukaku's Release' and 'Nourishment of Blood' don't fret because I'm thinking about redoing them. BUT THE ONLY WAY I WILL IS IF YOU PROMISE TO REVIEW TO THEM!!! Ok then on with the story. Oops it appeared that I put called last chap. Chapter 1 even though it was 2, oh well…

Chapter 3

She sits in her corner

Crying herself to sleep

Wrapped in all of the promises

That no one seems to keep

"Heh…heheh…HAHAHAHA!!!!" Tsunade was standing on top of her summoned slug, laughing as she watched the amusing yet sadistic scene below her on the ground. The twenty looking fifty year old woman had an evil smile on her face and the mischievous glint in her eyes could put the very one in Naruto's to shame. The sky was covered in dark clouds and lightening flashed behind her, outlying her figure in a bright light, the static electricity causing her hair to stand up in every which direction, the light catching the insane look in her eyes on its good side.

There wasn't a single tree in the vicinity, not even a bush, all that was there was the nice luscious green grass and oh how wonderful, a one story, one roomed gambling booth where her victims were currently at. Oh yes, she was a very happy woman at this moment in time, not only was she _far _away from Konoha and her duties as Hokage but, she was also able to utterly humiliate and destroy the lives of those who aggravate her the most! She did love them though…but that is beside the point! Now is the time for punishment, not loving care.

Jiraya and Kakashi, those two perverts were getting their just rewards! Mwahahahaha, they were both sitting in front of the gambling booth, crying helplessly as all of the pretty young women were not only completely ignoring them but, they were practically raping poor little Naruto. The young blond seemed to enjoy the attention at first, him not being too popular with the ladies back in Konoha after all, but that was when there was only one love struck girl, now, there were ten! Yes, you heard it correctly, ten beautiful girls were throwing themselves at the blond who looked so terrified he looked as if he would prefer being swallowed whole by Tsunade's slug.

The older men watched enviously as the girls smothered the unfortunate boy-or in their minds _very, very fortunate_-holding onto his limbs so they could maintain their contact with him.

Oh, but boys, your suffering has just begun!

Cackling she used her Kami-like powers to throw lightening into the gambling booth. They both jumped and turned from the rather depressing scene in front of them to see something oh so much worse. At least it was worse for them. She thought it was brilliantly sweet personally. The two men burst into sobs as they gripped at the hot glass, ignoring the fire that would soon turn into a raging inferno. Jiraya was crying out, "My babies! Not my precious babies!" and Kakashi was mumbling incoherent pleads in such despair it only made her laugh more. On the table in the center of the room-oh wait, now it's the burning table-was Icha-Icha Paradise! Not just one but the entire series ever written by that horribly perverted toad sage!

There was another flash of lightening and the two screamed like little school girls. Now, not only was it their precious Icha-Icha series about to face their burning demise, now the entire room was packed, books, pictures and videos stacked from the floor to the ceiling, the boys just couldn't understand why Kami was destroying their precious and loved porn!

The pair turned from the horrible, disgusting scene and suddenly found that Naruto being gang raped was a far less painful punishment. Tsunade's grin was foxy and her brown eyes were reduced to slits. "Why don't we add their humiliation into the depression?"

"Of course my Lady," her slug answered in her obedient tone. Ah, if only men were like that…

The kunoichi swung her arms through the air in exaggerated gestures as she shouted to the heavens, "By the power invested in me I declare this scene…YAOI!"

There was another flash and the girls disappeared, giving Naruto a second's relief before he was being crushed by two larger, heavier and nearly naked bodies. The three men looked at each other and screamed and tried to move, and screamed some more when they realized that their bodies were glued together in a rather suggestive manner!

She no longer cries to herself

No tears left to wash away

Just diaries of empty pages

Feelings gone astray

But she will sing…

Kukuku, if they thought that it was over they were to be sadly mistaken! The worst has yet to come! Another flash and two green and orange clad ninja with overly bushy eyebrows and bowl cut jet black hair gazed down at them. The trio's eyes widened when the duo suddenly struck their nice guy poses and decided to blind them with their teeth that seemed brighter than the sun itself as they shouted in unison, "How wonderful! What wonderful ways to introduce new forms of youth!!!"

Something was wrong however, when Jiraya opened his mouth to scream and a girl's voice came out. "Lady Tsunade…? Lady Tsunade? LADY TSUNADE!"

The Hokage jerked awake, sitting up in her chair so fast it nearly fell over and she was completely oblivious to the paper practically glued to her cheek. She blinked wearily as the green grass turned into white marble and the dark sky turned into a light colored ceiling. Jiraya's face was morphing into that of a girls, the white shaggy mane growing shorter and turning shades of colors until it was pink and the dark eyes turned to green, green eyes that were currently glaring reproachfully at her.

"Oh, don't look at me like that Sakura, Shizune already acts like my mother I don't need you to start."

Tsunade felt as if she were going to cry, it had been such a nice dream to…

Tearing the frustrating paper off her person she folded her hands and rested her chin on the joined fingers, observing her pupil. Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, frowned and shook her head before talking.

"I just thought that I should tell you that the Kazekage's blood results came in."

Tsunade blinked and a muscle twitched aggravatingly in her left temple. The girl woke her up to tell her this?! Like the woman really cared about blood work at the moment… "I take it you want me to come take a look at it?"

Sakura barely suppressed a growl. "Yes I would, I think you'll find his DNA interesting, I certainly did and personally can't make head or tail of it."

An eyebrow rose as Tsunade lowered her hands, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the girl. "What are you trying to say Sakura? I've taught you how to read DNA."

Her apprentice lowered her gaze to the floor-ah hah that's right back down and let me sleep-as she rubbed her upper arm uncomfortably. Her voice was much softer when she spoke next, "Hai my Lady," when she looked back up there was a fire not unlike her own glowing in those green orbs. "It's as if there's something missing in his blood."

Tsunade's brow furrowed at that and she suddenly took a note of interest in the Kazekage's blood work. "Missing?"

"Hai, my Lady."

The older woman sighed and stood out of her seat, beckoning for Sakura to lead the way. She remembered what the girl had told her, how only after she checked around Gaara's chest and neck for any sign of working vitals-and found none-he just up and rose himself like he hadn't even died. There was indeed something strange about it.

As the medics left the Kage building and headed towards the hospital they received smiles and greetings from the villagers which in which they did the same, taking up their part of the exchange. But, even as she smiled and said "Hello how are you?" her mind was on other things. Was it possible that Sakura had simply just made a miscalculation? She glanced over at the girl out of the corner of her eyes as they rounded a building. No, she had trained Sakura, and every test and obstacle she threw the girl's way Sakura passed and defeated every one of them with flying colors. Sakura Haruno never got anything medical wise wrong. Besides, Tsunade could tell that the girl would someday surpass her mentor.

Yes, miscalculation was out of the question.

They walked into the air conditioned building and nodded at the receptionists and made their way down the hall, up the stairs down the hall again and finally entered the medic's office. The room was empty except for them and curiously there was the lingering smell of coffee in the air…

Sakura answered her question without her even needing to ask it. "I dropped my mug when I saw the results, don't worry I cleaned it up though."

Well, that turned her interest up a higher notch, if her apprentice actually dropped something from shock it had to be good.

The two sat in the middle chairs and Sakura moved the mouse around on the desk, leading the cursor to a closed file. "Ok, I think you should see his DNA from before all of this happened, a couple of years ago Sasuke and Naruto were able to injure him so we got some of his blood out of that."

Tsunade nodded and watched as the DNA strand displayed itself on the screen. It wasn't weird or anything, your average strand but it was definitely not an everyday strand and she had never seen anything like it. There must have been someone else to have seen it though, she couldn't remember reading about anything like this or even hearing about it in her training but surely someone has dealt with it before…

Till everything burns

While everyone screams

Burning their lies

Burning my dreams

Her lips parted slightly and her brow furrowed. Normally the entire strand was the same color and normally all of the strands of every person are blue, but, Gaara of the Desert's… his was blue and green. Did this kid have two different DNA signatures?

Sakura opened another file and it took a minute for the picture to show itself on the screen. When it die though she gasped, folded her hands and rested them against her lips. "This is the newest strand, the one I got from him ten days ago." The green in the strand was gone, leaving quite a few empty spaces throughout the entire strand, most of it unattached, some of it was even darkening to black around the edges, trying to move through the empty space and reattach the severed lines. She had never seen anything like this and for the life of her couldn't come up with an answer and she couldn't even convince herself that someone had seen or heard of it before.

"Sakura," the young girl turned to look at her with pursed lips. "Fetch me Shikamaru Nara and everyone who accompanied you on the last mission."

"Hai," Sakura nodded and practically ran out the door, disappearing from the room and leaving Tsunade to her thoughts. Honestly, she was glad that she had informed Tsunade of the situation, no way in hell could she figure it out-not on her own anyway. Gaara's blood deformity baffled her; the boy shouldn't be alive with half of his DNA missing like that…HE SHOULDN'T BE ALIVE ANYWAY!!

Good Kami, how the hell was she supposed to find everyone? Naruto should be the easiest, he's most likely in either his apartment, at the training grounds, bonding with Iruka and the kids at the academy where else?-baka-the most predictable would be Ichiraku's. Gai and Lee were probably at the grounds or running two hundred laps around Konoha on their hands, Neji could very well be with them-of course not the running on his hands part- Tenten, she had no idea where that girl would hang out, and Shikamaru was probably lying on some bench somewhere cloud envying. The issue is on finding them.

"S-Sakura san? I-is ev-everything alright?"

Sakura turned sharply and came face to face with Hinata Hyuga. Her dark bluish black hair was longer now, resting comfortably against her waist and she was getting better at her stuttering problem. Of course, the stutters increase ten-fold and she would either faint or run behind something or someone when Naruto showed up. Sakura smiled when their eyes met, those white eyes bleeding lilac at the edges that were oh so similar to Neji's…that's it!

"Hinata, could you do me a favor?"

The girl nodded and politely asked what it was Sakura needed her help with.

"Can you use your byakugan and find Neji, Naruto, Lee, Gai, Tenten, Kakashi and Shikamaru for me?"

The Hyuga heiress blushed when Sakura mentioned Naruto; her crush still going strong but she nodded nonetheless. Veins appeared in her temples and eyes as she searched the area for the people listed. "Naruto kun is with Lee kun and Shikamaru kun at Ichiraku's…Neji onisan and Tenten chan are at the training grounds and…Kakashi sensei and Gai sensei are at the bookstore."

The veins receded as she let go of the byakugan, Sakura smiled and thanked her and left to go gather the boys-and one girl-up. She went to Ichiraku's first, seeing as how the noodle shop was closest to her at the moment, after seeing the little shop she walked in and waved at the old man who waved back. Lee and Shikamaru were sitting on either side of the blond, watching Naruto with mild disgust as he slurped the noodles so fast they wondered if he even tasted his favorite food.

"Hey guys."

The boys turned to her, Naruto with the wet noodles still dangling out of his mouth. Lee responded with an enthusiastic hello, Shikamaru grunted and nodded at her, probably deeming talking to troublesome. Naruto, after swallowing said "Hi Sakura."

"Lady Tsunade wants to see you guys."

"What for?"

"Is it about a mission?"

Sakura nodded at Naruto's question, knowing that it wasn't the kind of mission he was talking about. The kitsune jumped for joy saying something about being bored and having nothing to do as he downed the rest of his ramen and threw the required amount of pay on the counter. He started to leave with a bounce in his step before Sakura pulled him back by his jacket, Lee and Shikamaru just now getting up. "It's about our last mission Naruto, you know the one with Gaara?" Naruto looked puzzled, trying to figure out what the connection between that mission and the reason Tsunade wanted to see them. "Before we go, can someone get Neji, Tenten, Gai and Kakashi? Gai and Kakashi are at the bookstore and Neji and Tenten are at the training grounds." At their nods she told them to meet her at the hospital after they got them.

All of this hate

And all of this pain

I'll burn it all down

As my anger reigns

Till everything burns

Tsunade looked up when the eight people entered the room, all of them quiet as if sensing that something was wrong. The Hokage had looked up some stuff, more precisely Naruto's DNA and after looking at his found some very disturbing feelings in her gut, she could only hope that her thoughts were wrong.

She swiveled around in her chair to face them, after making sure that she had closed the files to keep their attention solely on their answers and her questions, and skipping the formalities barked at the two teams. "During your mission to retrieve the Kazekage did anyone of you sense or see or even think something wasn't right that you didn't put down in the report? Besides Gaara coming back to life when it was pretty obvious he was dead and no one revived him of course." The last part was said quickly and Lee and Tenten closed their mouths. It was Neji who spoke up, his voice was dark and quiet as his mouth was held in a firm grimace. The others were shocked, even the adults, what could have made Neji Hyuga act like this?

"Before he woke up, some sort of chakra was running through his chakra networks. It wasn't normal though, regular chakra is light colored-at least to those with byakugan-this chakra was really dark and thick…I am unsure of how to explain it, it just made me feel very uncomfortable for a while though."

Tsunade nodded so far her theory was proving itself true… "The Ichibi and Gaara, do any of you know how long they were connected for? Or to put in a better phrase, do any of you know when Shukaku was placed within Gaara?" She needed to know, she had looked at Naruto's DNA and the green was there, making her believe that the green strands were the demons but, he had two strands in his blood. The strands were completely separate, not in any contact whatsoever, one holding blue the other holding green.

Shikamaru answered her question this time and…clever, clever boy if his tone and the look in his eyes as he looked into her own was anything to go by, he was catching onto the issue, digging straight for the path of thoughts that she treaded on. "He was still a fetus I think Shukaku was placed in him when he was in three months development."

Everyone other than herself, Sakura, Shikamaru and perhaps Neji had no clue as to what they were going to. The stared confused, silent and dumbfounded. Tsunade groaned and covered her face, so, it seemed that the brat and the demon developed together in the same body for six months.

Kakashi, finally having had enough of being ignorant spoke up, "Forgive me Tsunade but, where exactly are you going with all of this?"

She sighed and flicked open the files, displaying both Gaara's and Naruto's DNA. This sample of Gaara's blood however, was the one during the Chunin Exams, according to Sakura. They weren't dedicated on medical information so most of the small group didn't know what to make of what it was they were seeing Naruto stared with his head tilted to the side, his ear almost touching his shoulder.

"The one with my name on it," heh, he sounded like a very confused child not understanding a problem that the sensei threw at him, but at the same time was attempting to sound smart as to not humiliate himself. "The blue is mine and the green is Kyuubi's right?" Tsunade nodded and glared at them with the eye peeking through her hands.

She was generally confused about this at the moment and hoped that her harshness would get an answer. "Do any of you have any idea as to why Naruto and Kyuubi's DNA are separate strands yet Gaara and Shukaku's are entertwined?"

They were all silent for a moment before Shikamaru tsked and leaned against the wall. "From what I know Kyuubi was placed in Naruto _after _you were born correct?" Naruto nodded the affirmative. "If that's the case than Naruto merely grew up with the fox, seeing as how his body already matured as much as it really will ever need to survive, and by that I mean his heart, blood, brain all of that stuff, it made Kyuubi more like a guest or parasite. Gaara was in the womb when Shukaku was put in him though, so his body, his heart everything that I just said for Naruto mingled with the demons. Instead of a parasite Shukaku became more, well to put it simply another part of Gaara that he literally couldn't live without, in fact Gaara was more of the parasite because he was most likely drawing a lot of the stuff he needed from Shukaku. If I'm right than Shukaku's DNA is Gaara's and Gaara's DNA is Shukaku's."

Walking through life unnoticed

Knowing that no one cares

Too consumed in their masquerade

No one sees her there

And she still sings…

Everyone stared and gaped at him, all except Neji and Kakashi but they couldn't help the impressed looks on their faces. The unwavering gazes of his comrades made him look down at his feet and mumble "How troublesome." Still, Tsunade thought, the kid is brilliant, the explanation made perfect sense and unfortunately more evidence to her theory.

She closed the files and opened another. "This is another sample of Gaara's blood, but this time after the extraction of Shukaku." Shikamaru looked up and the others turned their gazes from him to the screen and…like her own reaction they each showed different types of shock, Naruto even made a small surprised sound. "If what Shikamaru said was right, why is Shukaku's DNA gone and what is the purpose of this black DNA?"

They all looked back at the shadow user, expecting him to give the reason and his only reaction was to sigh and roll his eyes. "Considering Shukaku was pulled out of his body during the exorcism (which is what it was) his DNA was pulled from Gaara's simply because he wasn't there anymore. You can't have something, no matter how long you had it if it is taken away. And the black…," he clenched his eyes shut and put his left foot flat against the wall he was leaning on, his shoulders squared and there was an extremely troubled look on his face. "Seeing as how Gaara developed with Shukaku from the very beginning and the demons blood flowed through his heart and veins it would be the equivalent of tearing a chunk of his heart out (literally) if the demon was removed. Gaara's body was probably so used to having it there that the demonic blood is now a necessity for him to survive, and sense Shukaku's blood was removed Gaara's immune system and blood cells had to make a replacement for it.

"From what I understand demons are born when a human dies, the demon is the alter ego of the deceased human. The death itself has to be done in the name of hatred, most likely a murder or suicide. The human that died would have to have to of felt so much anger, hatred and mental pain to make their chakra flare out and in that flare draw in some power of the summoned world, where Enma, your giant toads Naruto, Tsunade your slug and Kakashi your dogs. With the combined power and emotions the chakra would gain malicious intent, and the human would wake up after death, of course the person would appear normal at first. There would be no strange and evil chakra flying around them in fact people wouldn't even be able to sense it and the human form would be just that human form, the animal comes later on I'm guessing. But, the person would heal their wounds and I'm not sure how long it takes I know it takes at least a month to happen but eventually they become the next tailed demon." His dark eyes opened and he looked at Naruto for a minute before turning back to Tsunade. Heh, they were all drinking this information as if they were in a desert and it was the only source of water.

Till everything burns everything burns

Watching it all fade away all fade away

Everyone screams

Everyone screams

"All nine demons so far have been humans, regular humans with nothing in them," he looked into Naruto's blue eyes and continued sincerely, "And I mean no offence Naruto. From what I've heard Gaara's life has been nothing but torment, torment for himself because of the way everyone treated him-I found out from Temari that the Fourth Kazekage, their father hadn't prohibited the truth being let out about Gaara so even the little kids wouldn't go near him. Naruto, the Third Hokage prohibited it so, even though most did avoid you because of the way their parents were acting they weren't too terrified to interact with you-correct?" Another nod. "And his life was torment for others because they were afraid and because he couldn't control the sand, it would react on his emotions so if someone scared him or angered him the sand would either kill or do some serious damage, and considering he didn't sleep it just made his emotions worse. Everyone resented him for that, his father even sent assassins after him.

"I have no doubt that while Shukaku was being drawn out he had the sudden craving to live. I understand that he has gotten better in the past couple of years but the insanity will never completely go away. And in his craving to live he probably felt the flash of all of the pain, hatred and anger, it probably almost reverted him. Although he was human he was always closer to being an actual demon than anyone else because of the unusual connection between him and Shukaku."

He looked at the floor and felt the tension in the room build to the maximum. He knew he shouldn't have revealed some of Gaara's more personal facts but if he didn't than they wouldn't have understood what he was trying to say. He could feel their disbelief, most of the people in here not being close enough to him to try and understand how he worked and felt or about what happened to him. Naruto's feelings were overpowering everyone else's in the room, overwhelming sadness for his friend. Even with the sunlight filtering through the open windows the room still felt cold and frightening.

He breathed deeply before finishing his monologue.

"I don't even want to consider this but it is probably what is going on right now. Gaara is going to become the next tailed demon."

(Watching it all fade away)

(While everyone screams)

Burning down lies

Burning my dreams

(All of this hate)

And all this pain

I'll burn it all down

As my anger reigns

Till everything burns

Chapter 3 is done, wow this one was long….the song was called 'Everything Burns' by Anastacia. I personally liked this one especially the beginning, naughty Tsunade, anyway next chapter contains Gaara and by that I don't mean flashback wise.

Please please review with chocolate on top

Ja ne


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Pairings: narugaa shikatem and whoever else you guys want me to pair up

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

Chapter 4

Don't turn away

I pray you've heard

Gaara sighed mentally and physically as he rubbed his temples, trying to fight back the birth of a headache. He cared for his siblings he really did but, they were really starting to press on the young Kazekage's last nerves. The two wouldn't leave him alone, the only time they left his side was when he was using the bathroom or was bathing, and even then the second he opened the door they were right there. Gaara enjoyed the attention sure, after being isolated for most of his life he was greatly appreciative of their company. But that was only for the first day after he was brought back from being dead. Ten days later and they were still completely smothering him.

When both couldn't be there with him, they made sure at least one of them was. Hell, Kankuro was standing behind him that very moment! They're excuse was that they were afraid of anything else happening to him. He DIED FOR KAMI'S SAKE! WHAT ELSE COULD HAPPEN TO HIM?! If they were so concerned for him where were they when he was a child? When everyone was turning him away, making him become the demon that the villagers and their late father had always called him? He needed his space, he had grown up in a world made of pure darkness, with only the fact that he was alive to kill others to keep him going, he was used to being alone, and didn't like it any other way damn it! …Thinking back on the darkness he suddenly felt a harsh bitterness in his heart and his eyes hardened.

He knew, deep in his heart that there will always be this…part of him that will never forget, never allow him to move any farther away from the homicidal psychopath that he was just a mere three years ago. No matter what they did for him now, if they were around him more or not he would never forget how they left him alone in that darkness, left him alone to deal with the pain of their late mother's death on his shoulders. He could never forgive them completely.

There was a knock sounding from the door before it opened resulting in the brothers to look up at who just entered. Their older sister smiled as she slid the door closed behind her, there was a rolled up scroll in her hand that she promptly placed on his desk. She spoke up rather awkwardly, they've spent so much time with him these days, but they were still uncomfortable about starting a conversation with him. He could understand, after all, he barely ever speaks to anyone himself. "It's from the Hokage, they've got the results from that blood sample and wish for you to go there as soon as possible."

Gaara nodded but on the inside shuddered. A mere ten days ago that Sakura girl had probed a piece of metal into his arm. What the fuck was that about? Anyway, that day he seriously and sincerely wished that Shukaku hadn't been removed from his body, it was Shukaku after all who protected him from the physical threats of life…like that bloody needle…and, it was incredibly quiet in his head now.

With the demon gone he felt more…not lonely, good Kami Kankuro and Temari made sure he wasn't alone now a-days, he felt extremely empty. It was like a hole had been torn into something that was almost whole. Gone were the conversations inside his head that would drive him up the walls during the day and –especially- the night. Gone was the second presence, there were no longer any whispered words that urged him to restart the slaughtering of random people, especially the ones who got too close. It was a strange feeling, almost upsetting.

Even though, now Gaara had a better opportunity to practice his taijutsu. Now that people could touch him in battle he had to double his training to keep his control over the sand strong. He was still able to use the same amount of deadly force and precision in his sand attacks but, everyone, including himself believed that he should start to work on his other skill. Especially the taijutsu. Thanks to the training he was faster now –though not as fast as the Konoha beasts or Naruto- he was also physically stronger…even if he was still shorter than most of the people he knew…

He mentally sighed. Wondering what it was his blond friend? -was thinking. If he was trying to find ways to keep Ataksuki from getting the Kyuubi within him, or if he was thinking along the more believable ideas. Knowing him it was probably the latter, the blond never takes his own safety into his hands, he always helped others and at the moment was most likely training harder so he could bring that traitorous Sasuke Uchiha back.

"When do you think we should leave? Gaara?"

The words I've spoken

Dare to believe

Pulling himself from his musings he looked into his siblings curious faces. Of course the pair would expect to come with him, even if he gave them his infamous glare they probably still wouldn't back down. And at that particular moment he didn't exactly feel like fighting with them. "First thing tomorrow."

The two nodded and this time it was Kankuro who left, leaving Temari with the Kazekage. Honestly, if only they could maintain this level of silent communication during battle…A slight pressure on his shoulder caused him to look up at his older sister. She was looking down at him with curiosity as she sat in the chair in front of his desk. The red headed sand manipulator looked out the window instead of meeting her eyes, much rather preferring to watch the sand flow across the darkening sky, knowing all too well what the inquisitive expression meant. She was about to start a conversation with him.

"I wonder what could be so urgent for us to get there as soon as possible. Obviously it's about your blood work but what could be so interesting about it?" Gaara had no clue and honestly didn't want a clue. The only people who had ever been able to wound him enough to bleed had been Naruto and the Uchiha child…and that Seimei person who used Shukaku's chakra to revive himself (episode 219-220). Not that the so called ultimate weapon of the Takumi village had lasted long…even Deidara hadn't been able to make him bleed. The only way the blond defeated him was by trickery and explosions. He didn't like it when he saw his blood –he didn't mind seeing others blood- he just didn't like seeing his own.

He hoped it was a human reaction. Shukaku was gone now, and he was human…he had to learn to act like one.

"Who are you going to have as a temporary Kazekage here?"

"Baki." Gaara usually chose Temari or Kankuro to be the temporary Kazekage while he was gone, but considering how they were coming with him…and his old sensei had proven himself time and again that he was dependable when it came down to things like that. However, the child knew that by his elder sister's voice that the real question was about to be breached and if he was correct, he was about to get seriously aggravated…

"Ano…little brother…don't you think you should sleep? It's getting late and well, with Shukaku gone…"

Ah, so his prediction was correct. He found himself suppressing a scowl as he glared at the almost black sky outside. "I'm not going to sleep Temari, so drop the subject." He turned and stopped her from arguing with a glare. How he spent his time was up to him and was his business alone. The woman gave him a pleading look as he stood from his chair and left. He exited the building, evading the ninjas and even more surprising his siblings.

He had finished his duty hours ago anyway, he had just been sitting in his office for no real reason, it's the only real place that he felt safe going to for thoughts when his siblings were with him.

He breathed in the cool air as he reached the roof, watching the silvery tresses of light thread through the dark sky as the moon rose. The sand in the air felt reassuring, reminding him of his place in this village and that he was indeed, still the master. He watched as the villagers made their way into their dome shaped homes, getting ready to fall into the blissful darkness of sleep that most humans enjoyed.

Gaara suddenly felt a wild drive in his chest it felt like a beast of some sort was replacing his heart, trying to push it out of his chest, his inner beast happy, like it was just freed of its cage. Not wanting his siblings to find him, or to have this exhilarating feeling to go away he jumped across the roof tops as fast as he could go. Good Kami this felt good…like some freedom had been bestowed upon him. His heart had felt caged for so long and now it was pumping wildly with the unlashed feeling of freedom, pulsing in rhythm to the howling sand.

He found himself on a very familiar roof. Where there was a large blackened crater in the alcove of the circular stone and the roof itself, incredibly old and dried dark blood splotching certain areas on it. He often came here to think, when his siblings weren't with him of course, despite the disturbing and painful memories it brought up. Yashamaru's words thundered in his brain, echoing off the protective barriers of his skull. This was where his uncle meant to assassinate him that night, where he lost the innocence of a child and gained the unquenchable hatred of the people around him.

Strange, how the silvery fingers of the moon licked upon the edges of the buildings, illuminating his form from behind in the same way it did all those years ago. He found his thin fingered hands clenching; his nails leaving half moon imprints into the fleshy part of his palms as his green eyes glared down at the empty streets, again the same way he did all those years ago. Again, he hoped that this was a human reaction, to hate them all still, he cared for them yes, he protected them yes, but still he hated them. He turned and the moon made his eyes shine in the same way that nocturnal hunters eyes do; those bright flashes of blue and yellow as mirrors reflected in the moon's light. Was it strange, that the full moon hanging heavily in the sky like a giant orb of light that seemed purer than the sun, still seemed to hold some sort of unnatural power over him?

3 days later

For one last time

And then I'll let the

Naruto growled as Sakura held him back. Sai was standing in front of them, leaning casually against a wall. A smirk was on his face as he examined his nails. "Really eunuch?" He gave the blond an infuriating look which only made the fox jinchurriki practically sizzle with rage. "You going to let the pink monkey fight for you?"

"Pink Monkey?!" Sakura's green eyes were burning with intense flames as she released her friend's arm. Naruto just grinned, sure he knew by letting Sakura finish this little fight it was only adding to Sai's list of humiliating facts about him but, he knew better than to hold back a provoked Sakura. If he so much as attempted to pull her back it would be _him _facing the girl's wrath.

Sakura walked towards the artist, her anger intensifying as she noticed that her dangerous glare didn't seem to be intimidating their antagonizing team mate. But oh that will change…

She could hear Naruto giving a sharp squeak of surprise and suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to give the unlucky person a piece of her mind. But when she saw _who _she was thinking about pulverizing she did a double take and her anger immediately dissipated.

Temari smirked at the younger kunoichi and released the grip on her shoulder. She rolled her eyes at Naruto's suddenly very foxy like grin and they landed, narrowed on Sai. "Temari, what are you doing here?"

Temari answered Sakura's question without moving her gaze from the young –rather homosexual looking individual-. "Tsunade asked for us to come so she could talk to Gaara about his blood work or something like that. Kankuro's with them at the moment." The wind mistress frowned when Naruto and Sakura's relieved faces disappeared and morphed into something darker. Despite the sunny, cloudless sky the area suddenly felt very cold…but before she could ask about what was wrong the other boy spoke.

"Temari is it? I don't think we've met before, I'm Sai." Temari's concerned, protective eyes landed on him and her blue green gaze instantly hardened, a silent reminder to anyone watching that Gaara's infamous 'die' glare was indeed hereditary.

The dark eyed brunette shuddered inwardly but grinned in a sexy way at the fiery kunoichi. "Well, unlike the pink monkey here, you're not flat chested at all-"

There was a loud 'thwack' as her metal fan connected with his skull, the impact automatically sending the boy to the ground, causing a flurry of dust to fly into the air as he connected with the dirt. The duo beside her didn't even seem to see their current annoyance in pain, so therefore they couldn't find the humor in it and the tension in the air remained deadly.

Placing her fan back in the red sash wrapped around her waist she gripped their shoulders causing them to look into her determined eyes. "All right, I'm not used to the attitude coming from you two at the moment and I don't like it. What is your problem?" Naruto grit his teeth as he looked into those concerned almost motherly orbs. Sakura discovered herself doing the same thing and each painfully pondered the same exact thing. How were they supposed to tell this over protective sister about her littlest brother's fate?

Naruto didn't want to think about it, didn't want to know her reaction to it and didn't want to acknowledge the inevitable at all. He couldn't –no- wouldn't think about his precious Gaara turning into a monster.

Darkness cover me

Deny everything

Slowly walk away

"C'mon Temari, Shikamaru should be able to explain it better than we could," Sakura said in a quiet, grim voice.

Temari allowed herself to be steered over to the park and she would have smiled at the happy children playing with their toys and each other, (just leaving the arrogant artist to sit and soil in the dirt) and blissfully unaware of the chaotic mess their world is turning into, if she weren't feeling so disturbed. What was so difficult for them so say that it even made _Naruto _shut up? The large trees helped to shade the people in the park, lying atop the wooden bench with his arms folded behind his head was Shikamaru. The boy was most likely doing his second favorite activity, cloud envying -or in this case, searching for clouds to envy.

The trio marched up to the boy and Temari smirked down at him. A frown made itself known on the lazy ninja's face as his view of the sky was suddenly blocked by the blond, violent kunoichi. The frown deepened when he saw the downcast faces of his fellow leaf comrades. Temari gave him a curious look with a sense of innocence. Tch, innocent my ass he thought with a snort before she opened her mouth to speak.

"According to Naruto and Sakura you would be able to best explain why it is that they are in such foul moods."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at her. How the hell was he supposed to know what was wrong…with…them…? He looked at Sakura and Naruto's sullen faces and then back to Temari's. His brilliant mind instantly clicked two and two together and his basic instinct told him to get the hell up and run! He automatically sat up, responding slightly slower to the commands his mind was giving him as he mumbled to himself so quietly his companions could barely hear it, "Oh shit…" They want _him _to tell _this woman…_ this very protective and very violent woman about what would eventually happen to her _little brother?!_

What the hell?! Why couldn't Sakura do it? The pink haired girl was the medic here for Kami's sake! If not her than why not Naruto who had a stronger bond with the Kazekage's older sibling's because of his strong bond with the Kazekage himself? Why the hell was _he _subjected to do this?! Temari didn't even like him!...Well, she may like him a little but still! She'll fucking slaughter him!

Shikamaru made a slow movement to stand…and was about to follow the orders that his brain was positively screaming at him to do and hightail it out of there. However, thanks to the large metal fan suddenly fixing itself on his chest he found his movement very limited…and the sharp ridges of the metal pressed into his flesh. He gulped and thought of how utterly troublesome this entire ordeal was… "You are going to sit down and explain to me what is going on."

The fan pushed into him, directing him to plant his ass back on the wooden boards of the bench. His skin broke out in goose bumps as he heard the repressed power held back in that voice and he was very sure that if he didn't explain in detail to the woman that she would serve him a very severe beating.

To breathe again

On my own

He let out an agonized sigh and told her to sit. After she had placed herself comfortably beside him, Sakura and Naruto moving to stand up in front of them. The fan dug into his skin causing him to wince before it was pulled back, sitting beside the blond on the bench. With each word that passed his lips Temari's hands clenched until the knuckles turned white and her own mouth grew grim. With each explanation to each of her questions that flowed through his lips her blue green eyes and stiff backed posture lost their aggression and authority. And finally, after each work that countered and proved the girl's fearful accusations and doubts wrong passed through his lips she was doubled over, a hand covering her eyes as her shoulders shook with held back tears.

"This can't be happening…n-not Gaara. Not GAARA!" The clear salty liquid finally tore themselves from her burning sockets and her entire body was shaking from the intensity of her tears, she bent over so much her head rested against her quivering knees and her free hand clutched at the blond tresses of her pony tails so tightly the knuckles turned white. The boys looked away from her distress, their own hearts breaking and their eyes burning. Sakura threw herself at the wind mistress, wrapping her arms around the shaking shoulders and crying herself as she listened to the barely audible cries of "W-Why G-Gaara? N-Not hi-him. Not him!"

After a few minutes she looked up through watery eyes at Shikamaru, silently demanding his attention. "How long?" Her eyes bore into his, causing the Nara to place a sympathetic hand on her lower back.

"I don't know."

She nodded, silently determining if there was anything they could do to stall this…transformation. And…if not…what she and Kankuro could do to help their baby brother. The three looked over at Naruto, the blond had not made a sound throughout this entire emotional ordeal. His dark blue eyes were locked on something behind the trio, a glimmer of white teeth peeking through the sharp, unsure frown of his lips. "Gaara…"

The three turned, shocked at the one word that escaped the jinchurriki's lips. They could see the brothers walking up to them, side by side. Kankuro looked terribly ill as he kept his gaze on the youngest suna sibling. The latter…looking like he always did.

The pair finally made it to the small group and everyone but them and everything but them and this troubling conclusion disappeared in a blur of nothing. Naruto was looking at the red head's impassive face fighting back tears as his fists shook at his sides. Temari broke the silence and hopped over the back of the bench, grabbing fistfuls of her brother's clothing and dragging them into a tight hug. Kankuro clutched back with the same desperate hold, each shedding tears and clutching their baby brother to their bodies as if he was drifting away from them, as if he was their lifeline.

The leaf stood back, watching the family's tearful embrace. Gaara was the only one who wasn't crying, in fact, his face and eyes were undecipherable and the only indication that showed that he knew and was bothered about what was going on was the slight bloodshot crazed look in his eyes. Or perhaps it was the complete and empty void in his eyes, those twin pairs of green nothing.

Carry me away

I need your strength

They pulled back from the embrace, the puppet master's purple warrior's paint smeared and the two looked at their youngest. Kankuro placed his hand on his little brother's shoulder and asked quietly, "You okay?"

Gaara looked at him out of the corner of his eye. He nodded. Temari looked at him with depressed, pleading eyes. "Baby, please…don't hide from us."

The red head looked at her and said in his usual monotone rasp, "I'm fine." The entire group gave him concerned looks as if they wanted and expected him to blow up at any given moment. Naruto walked forward and nearly pushed Temari out of the way as he forced the shorter boy to look at him. Blue met green and Naruto clutched at the thin arm with a firm grip. "Please…Gaara…"

The boy's looked at each other, the two were unable to look away from the person who understood them better than anyone else ever could. Gaara's teeth clenched and the emotionless gaze suddenly exploded in an array of different emotions. Anger, pain, confusion, longing and fear. Naruto was the only one who saw this wordless confession, the only one who caught the glimpses of the emotions before they were carefully tucked away behind Gaara's carefully made mask. The blond gave a small sad smile and made the barest of nods. He understood at least a little how the red head was feeling at that precise moment and knew perfectly well that his friend would not express his problems verbally. It was the other's fault if they couldn't read him. He released the Kazekage's arm and stepped back, allowing Temari to pop back into the place Naruto had pushed her out of.

None of the others had known what just transpired between the two. They stayed in silence, contemplating before Gaara finally spoke. "You two should get aquainted with your friends here we'll be leaving in a few hours." With his shocking statement the rest of the world flew back into place and before they could stop him he was gone.

He ran around the village, heading towards the large forest, his mind for the moment blank. He jumped off the ground to land on a branch, his gourd quivering slightly in its sash from the harsh landing. He hopped from tree to tree, branch to branch, evading the few ninja that happened to be running throughout the forest themselves. In a matter of minutes the red head suddenly found himself in a very familiar place, where trees had been uprooted and destroyed, earth upturned and large claw marks covering the ground. This was where Naruto had changed Gaara's perspective on life for the better. Looking at the familiar terrain the teen suddenly found himself collapsing onto his knees as they gave way under him.

Flashback

Gaara was sitting in the chair in front of Tsunade's desk. The woman had placed her head on her folded hands as she watched him with strange eyes. "I'm sure you're wondering what it is you are doing here Lord Kazekage."

Gaara nodded, replying, "Hai, I am curious. Was it really necessary to send Temari and Kankuro out Lady Hokage?" The two were keeping up formalities even though both hated it, they were attempting to be polite, neither having very good reputations for politeness and patience. Gaara was positive that even though Tsunade had asked for his older siblings to leave while she talked to him quietly that his aniki was sitting outside the door eavesdropping.

She shifted uncomfortably as she prepared to tell the child of his fate. "According to the results from your blood sample and mine and some others thoughts and conclusions…well…" she closed her eyes as she struggled to find the words to explain this. She didn't know the boy but for any normal human to find out that they were turning into a demon must be heart wrenching but, he was a jinchurriki, a not normal human who had just lost the demon that prevented him from being completely human… "Seeing as how Shukaku was placed within you while you were still a fetus your body matured in a way that it needed demonic blood to survive."

Gaara stared at the woman with an unflinching gaze. He had a very bad feeling about this… "I understand all of that Lady Hokage but, than how am I still alive? The demonic blood was removed along with Shukaku."

She grimaced. "Your body adapted just before you died. Your heart started to create demonic blood at the same time you started to feel your emotions overload –please don't deny it-. You…you're going to turn into the next demon." There, she said it, and now that she had she froze, expecting an outburst or maybe to be covered head to toe in sand.

To get me through this

Dare to believe

All she received was a soft, "Are you sure?"

She looked at him, the young boy sitting in front of her. The child's –for that is what he was, a child who had been placed with too much responsibility before he was born- red bangs were obscuring his eyes from her view and his hands were folded in his lap before they suddenly unclasped. "I'm sorry."

His jaw tightened at her apology before slacking and he looked up at her, his green eyes dead of all emotion. He stood from his seat and bowed respectively before murmuring quietly, "Thank you Lady Hokage." As he opened the door he saw Kankuro standing there, mouth agape and eyes wide.

End Flashback

He sunk further into himself until his forehead went between his knees and connected with the rough, cool bark of the branch. His lips were skinned back from his clenched teeth as his nails dug into his scalp, nearly tearing the red strands from his flesh. He saw stars behind his closed eye lids as flashes of his uncle, father and villagers flash through his mind. Freak! Monster! GET AWAY FROM HIM! Mommy it's him! I tried to love you for my sister…but, in my heart…I _hated _you Gaara. Don't hurt me! Daddy, make him go away! You were never loved. You were a tool, a failed experiment! I-It's him, Gaara of the Sand…RUN! This is it…please, just die.

Gaara was lost in the throws' of pain overlapping pain, creating unbelievable amounts of hatred. They were right…Yashamaru and Father, they were all right. He was a monster, a demon. He gulped as his heart raced and the tree he was sitting on suddenly shuddered from the blast of chakra he accidently let out of his body. He was a monster…But why?! He had just turned human for Kami's sake! He didn't want to be a demon…He didn't do anything wrong…

He released the death hold on his scalp and picked his head up. The village wasn't going to take too well to this at all. They would kill him send assassins left and right nonstop, he wouldn't have a moment of piece again…

He opened his sea green eyes and looked up. The sky must have started to fill up with clouds during his flashback or while he was with the others…the light baby blue was rapidly being covered by dark clouds, angry rain clouds that came from nowhere to assist in displaying his emotions. He stood and composed himself, his siblings would react even more than they already were if he showed up looking like a wreak. Naruto…Gaara had tried so hard to become like the blond who had saved his life more than once in more than one sense of the word. He tried so hard to form bonds and keep those bonds, to be human and care for others and fight for others instead of just for himself. But, it appeared that the attempt would be in vain.

After making sure he was completely composed, not one expression showing itself on his face or in his eyes he left. He made it back to the village at the same time the clouds had completely covered the sky, covering it in a dark cold blanket and there was a single flash of bright light in the darkness as a strike of lightning attempted to break out of the clouds.

The civilians of Konoha were running into their homes, determined to get inside before it started to rain.

For one last time

And then I'll let the

He was walking down the middle of the street, passing Ichiraku's Ramen Shop just when the thunder roared. It clapped overhead, making those who were yet to get to their sanctuaries that they called home jump in startled fright. The rain finally tore free from its prison, following the roar of the thunder, coming down in sheets. He walked right on through. Loving the feel of the raindrops pounding into his flesh, attempting to override the unleashed fury and mental pain and replace it with physical pain. He felt heavy as the rain pounded down on him, trying to push him to the ground but he remained strong.

He enjoyed and relished in how nature seemed to want to hurt and scare the ones who did this to him. Everything he was feeling at that precise moment and everything that had been bottled up for so long was coming out in this storm. The wind was howling as it pushed into his front pelting his face and chest with the rain that followed and nearly pushing his light weighed form back. His hair and the leggings of his brown trench coat flew and fluttered behind him, almost seeming as if it wanted to detach themselves from his person and follow the raging winds. The clouds seemed to take away his voice and transferred it into itself, using the power of his pain to fuel the terrifying, unearthly roar of the thunder. Following every roar and growl was the crackling of lightning as it whipped the ground with the sound of snapping sails with unchallenged anger. And in that attack, came the blinding flash of light that enveloped everything, turning the rain into tears of a rainbow. The dazzling display of beautiful colors was by far the most horrifying aspect of the storm.

The rain, which was now blinding him as it pelted into his eyes was his will to hurt those who hurt him and to hurt himself. The thunder was his cries of horrible, unimaginable pain that he couldn't voice but within his soul and heart it was all that was heard. The lightning was the horrible anger in his heart reaching out to those who were already dead and to the world being the way it was. The colors that were born from the flashes of the lightning were his inner child's joy. The child that lay buried beneath layer after layer in his heart, so deep within he had been dormant until now, was weeping with pure glee, enthralled and entranced, gloriously drinking in the pain and fear spreading throughout everyone in the village.

Darkness cover me

Deny everything

Slowly walk away

To breathe again

On my own

Wow, this was by far the longest chapter I've ever written. Anyway the song was called 'Darkness' by Disturbed. Consider this to be my Christmas present to all of you wonderful reviewers and seeing as how my b-day is coming up next week, please review. I probably won't update until after Christmas and all of that so in case I don't have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year;)

Ja ne


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Pairings: narugaa shikatem and whoever else you guys want me to pair up

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

Chapter 5

It's already started hasn't it? Gaara glanced back at his siblings as the trio ran across the wet grass. He had collected his siblings the moment he found them huddled together with Shikamaru, Sakura and Naruto. The group of five stared, transfixed at him as he entered Haruno's household through an open window. The way they were staring at him…it was as they were children who were spending their first night alone in their own bed and room imagined that they had seen the horrifying Boogey Man. In a way, he knew that he was indeed some sort of Boogey Man, a creature created for the sole purpose to torment and kill, his face was the image that Suna villagers and even some Konoha villagers pictured when they thought of the most terrifyingly nightmarish thing they could think of. Hell, when he was younger he used to creep around people's windows, whether they be an enemy or ally to his village he'd creep around their homes in the night, guarded by the darkness that was always by his side as they slept, their minds drawn deep into the blissful nothingness that most people enjoyed and needed. He didn't though, he didn't need it then and he doesn't need it now and he'll never need it in the future, he'd examine them through their windows, occasionally stepping into the room, for no matter if they were allies to the village, they were enemies to him.

Everyone was his enemy.

He remembered the stories that passed through the sand village when he was a mere child, innocent in everything a normal child does but guilty for things even the most horrid adults never did. The older siblings would be the ones to tell them, they would tell their younger siblings and their siblings' friend's bed time stories. Stories that told of the Sand Man who brings blissfully sweet dreams to sweet little children like themselves, how he would sprinkle sand into their eyes and bring the dreams to their subconscious that was in full control as they slept…And how the sand village had their own personal Sand Man. The brats would get excited, really? Can we meet him? Have you seen him big brother? Big sister has he given you any sweet dreams? What kind of dreams has he given you?

Gaara knew the details of these little stories that were passed down from generation to generation, family to family, friend to friend, and even village to village because he was there. He was always there, watching the scene through the window, hidden by the companiable night and lightly blowing sand that would caress its master's skin with tender, motherly touches. He heard every word coming from the five year olds' mouths as they bubbled and gripped their bed sheets, watching their elder siblings with large, energetic eyes from the slight slit beneath the glass before it connected with the sill.

The elder brother or sister, perhaps a cousin nodded, confirming that they have indeed met the sand villages Sand Man. The children always squealed in delight, oblivious to the very noticeable shudders that ran through their elder's bodies. I hope I see him one day, that would be their statement, said with stars in their eyes. No, no you don't, and that was their siblings' response.

The children would cock their heads in the slightest of manners, their tiny chubby fingers loosening their death grip on the sheets. The sweet bed time stories always turned at that moment from sweet to horrifying. Terrible frightening stories about their own Sand Man. He makes sweet dreams turn into nightmares, they told the brats of the horrid world they were thrown into when he comes. When you saw him, if you were unfortunate enough to see him and look into those green eyes surrounded by rings of midnight black, you would be shook to the core, the violent anger and demonic bloodlust putting missing ninja like Kisame Hoshigaki to shame. How when he appeared in their rooms with evil in his eyes that seemed to have lived for thousands of years, when his sand slipped into their subconscious they would wish they were dead.

The elders would leave, shaken and disturbed by their own stories, leaving the terrified children huddled together, clutching each other for support, to afraid to fall asleep.

His pain and anger still roared behind him as he knelt within the window frame like a frozen predator. It was true that he would stoop around in their rooms as they slept, but never had he influenced their dreams by pouring sand into their eyes. Sure his presence could cause nightmares but never had he done anything quite as stupid as that and every time he hears that in their stories it always ticks him off. But, back to the group. Apparently his appearance was quite threatening for even Naruto trembled under his intense gaze. Jade eyes positively glowed with the insane passion as they darkened from the shadows of his red locks. His hair glowed with color from the lights around him, from his anger striking the earth, making it look like the tresses were bleeding crimson. Black prison lines deepened and expanded, becoming more pronounced in the darkness, his posture stiff and muscles tight, the predator searching and waiting for the chance to jump the prey.

No doubt with the storm raging and bawling behind him with his body held in the position of a trapped and cornered animal looking for a weak point to strike, he looked very imposing. The Sand Man, whose story still rang strong throughout Suna woke from his dormant sleep and slipped to the surface once again.

Turning his gaze to his shivering kin he growled out, "We're leaving." Just as they were about to protest his anger struck, landing a harsh blow on the ground a mere fifteen feet away from his back. Smoke lifted from the very tiny hole the bolt of energy made and he was the only one who didn't jump from the impact. Why would he though? Why would he be afraid of his own emotions? The only thing he had to fear concerning himself was losing control of his actions. His inner child positively squealed with joy, illuminating his form, causing his eyes to brighten and flash like nocturnal animals once again, and the ai scar on his forehead to gleam and glitter with the fresh blood that flowed beneath the skin.

Temari and Kankuro followed without a fight.

Now they were running through the long grass, fighting against the blowing winds that pushed into their fronts attempting to force them back to the village they were previously in as the dark clouds shifted overhead. The storm had stopped a few hours ago but still his anger and pain lay hidden in the clouds, the same way they hid beneath his skin. The three were covered in water, the liquid weighing them down but still they didn't stop despite the extra weight. The clouds were most likely hiding the moon now and they were reluctant to let it shine through. But they did, allowing it the space it needed to shine light upon their darkened path.

Temari and Kankuro glanced at the Kazekage between them. It wasn't fair. The old and dangerous air was back, was back and surrounding their little brother in the same way it used to. They were scared again scared that if they spoke out of turn or said the wrong words in the wrong context he'd kill them. And good Kami they were tired damn it! They were going faster than they normally ever traveled and the water in their soaked clothes was making it harder to move.

Temari gulped before bravely speaking out. "Gaara, can we stop?" She subconsciously moved away from her littlest brother when they came to a stop at the shore of a lake. The puppet master collapsed and breathed heavily, taking in deep gulps of air. Gaara was staring at the water, watching as it lightly tapped against the ground they were standing on, he understood that they needed rest and usually he needed it by now as well. But not today. No, his heart was thumping wildly, sending flashes of adrenaline and freshly oxygenated blood through his veins like liquid fire. Temari and Kankuro were already straying away from him like he was a newfound plague. His hands clenched into tight fists as he glared at the glittering surface. Heh, this information about him becoming a demon seemed to be the thing that broke them from their closeness stupor.

He glared into the reflection of the full moon in the water and felt a pull somewhere in his heart and gut. He didn't even twitch when he heard the distant howl of a coyote and personally he felt that even he was obliged to give the moon its respect. The, fact that his siblings were scurrying away from him…you were never loved…told him that they were back to being terrified of him. He heard his siblings getting out their sleeping bags and growled, his eyes still glued to the moons rippling reflection.

They were scared again, and if they were acting like this how would the villagers respond? The elders?

"Gaara…? Aren't you going to sleep?"

Dark green eyes glanced back at them before he lifted his head and looked at the moon in the sky. The pull was so much stronger when he looked into the actual thing and not a poor imitation in the water and the moon's silvery glare bore down on him, mocking him, commanding him to keep moving. "No," the dry rasp was practically a growl and Gaara had no idea how difficult it was for his kin to decipher the words spewing from his chapped lips. "I'll see you at the village." By the time they figured out the meaning of the words and before they could say anything in return he was gone.

Gaara snarled as he ran across the water, his chakra disturbing the piecefulness of the surface and the underwater sea life. What had he done? He hadn't done anything wrong had he? Kami just hated him for some odd unfathomable reason apparently the spirit hated him for simply being there. Simply being alive and created. After all, how could a fetus do anything to anger an all knowing being? But…it's not his fault…and it's not fair damn it!

The hair made his hair look like solid crimson, like spilled blood that had been frozen into a crystal like formation. Black chakra suddenly wafted out of his skin causing his green eyes to open wide in shock. So, this is his new chakra eh? He was already starting to give off demonic energy, demonic traits and powers. The grass was starting to dissipate, turning into clumps of sand and rock. He was on the border of the Wind and Fire countries now. Wind was howling in his ears as he ran at impossible speeds, his eyes watering from the harsh cold assault on them.

They won't allow him in the village. He was a fucking monster that could cause more damage than anything else to his people. He wasn't ignorant, he knew that the only reason the counsel had chosen him as the Kazekage was to keep a close eye on him, to attempt to train and keep him on a leash. He couldn't be controlled and wouldn't be controlled and now, he couldn't even protect his own people. If he was really turning into something that they would fear more that the Ichibi that used to be within him he wouldn't be able to be trusted by anyone in the village. He was better off dead than even attempting to win their sides again –no- he wouldn't die, not by his own hand, suicide in his eyes was a sign of weakness and weak was something he wasn't. He could deal with not being with his village. Another reason they won't allow him entrance or trust was Ataksuki. The second that homicidal group full of maniacs heard about him they would be back, and they wouldn't bother with sending small fry like Deidara to their village. No, they'd most likely send the oldest of the Uchiha whelps and that was something the sand village wanted the least to happen.

Itachi Uchiha was bound to be the strongest of the group. No doubt he would be sent seeing as how Gaara would have ten tails. (During each demons birth they gain one tail more than the one last born, seeing as how there can't be more than one demon with the same number of tails)

The villagers may hate and fear him even more than they had before now, and he may hate them. Still, he was their Kazekage, and with that duty came the responsibility to protect them from everything. Even himself.

He made his choice.

The older sand siblings were breathing heavily by the time they saw the large walls protecting and surrounding their village. The sun was hot as it beat down on them, burning air lashed at their faces like dragon's breath. Gaara…their brother's voice sounded exactly as it did three years ago, before they came to Konoha still as Genin and before he fought Naruto Uzumaki and lost. They were scared for themselves and Gaara himself. They realized their mistake the last day of their travel, how they had been standing away from him, giving him a four foot radius with trembling forms, the same way they always acted when he went homicidal. No doubt, after hearing the dreadful news, Gaara needed their support more than ever before.

And they failed him. They failed him the same way they failed him for the fires twelve years of his life.

"Kankuro! Temari!"

The pair looked up and slowed to a jog until they came to a complete stop as they reached the gates. Two young guards were standing there, dark eyes wide with fear and mouths open slightly in apprehension. Their hands were fisted and shaking as they stared the experienced Jounin before them.

"KazeKage…he-he left a letter and is nowhere to be found!"

The brother and sister of said Kazekage clenched their jaws and narrowed their eyes, silently and wordlessly ordering the guards to stand aside and let them pass. Their minds were set solely on Gaara, neither paying any attention to the disturbed members of their village as they made their way to the Kage power. The door crashed against the wall with a bang from their attack and haste to get in.

Baki and four elders jumped and looked at the newcomers. The five were currently standing around Gaara's desk, all of them looking angry and confused but none more confused than Baki. By the shocked looks on their faces it looked as if the siblings had entered in, in the middle of a verbal battle. Shibuki, the oldest of the elders glared at them with beady dark eyes and wrinkled lines sagging more profoundly around his mouth.

"What does _this _mean?" He was shaking a crumbled piece of paper through the air in exaggerated motions, indicating what this was spit flying from his mouth.

Temari winced and Kankuro rasped out a suddenly extremely dry cough. "What do you mean elder Shibuki? My sister and I just got here, therefore are unsure of what the problem is."

Baki took the slip of paper from the elder, rescuing it from his harsh grip and handed it to his old students. The two observed their sensei, watching how the revealed side of his face was a mask of complete shock. Temari leaned in close and each read the words Gaara had quite obviously written.

Please forgive me, all of those who are reading this. I will not be returning for reasons best explained by Temari and Kankuro but, trust me, my reasons for leaving are the best intentions of Sunacagure. I will appoint Baki to be the new Kazekage and trust that everyone assists him when he needs it. Again, please forgive me for not consulting this with the counsel but it is indeed for the best.

Gaara

Temari and Kankuro choked on the sharp inhale of breath they took as they finished reading, their eyes widening to impossible sizes. H-he left…To n-never come back…

Temari backed up until she hit the wall and slid down it so she was sitting on the floor with her knees drawn to her chest. Her hands were pressed flat on the floor, seeking solstice in its comfort and strength. She was breathing heavily and white was showing around her eyes. She failed him…she failed him…she failed him…_she failed him…_

Kankuro stood, rooted to the spot, trembling; sounds of crackling paper filling the room. Gaara, I'm so sorry. Shibuki broke the siblings' choked silence, making them jump out of their skins as his loud harsh voice boomed in the room.

"So, what the hell is the meaning of this?"

The puppet master gulped and looked at his older sister, noting how the wind mistress was still curled in on herself. No way in hell was he going to force her to explain it while she was in that condition. Exhaling noisily he stepped forward and placed the letter back on his little brothers –no- Baki's deck. Gaara, please forgive me.

"Before they left the Leaf had taken a sample of Gaara's blood to make sure everything was functioning properly. When the three of us left a few days ago to discuss it with Tsunade…well…" Kankuro's voice died off as he clutched his bicep with his right hand. He didn't want to look at the elder men and he felt as if he had suddenly been reduced to a child under their never ending stares. He wanted to run, to run and hide, grab Temari and go looking for hi otouto. He wanted to make everything up to Gaara, to hold the red head boy close and never let him go, to listen to Gaara's heartbeat to know that he was indeed still there, still safe and okay. Because, good Kami he could feel his own heart tearing itself apart with the guilt for the things he didn't do for him.

"Well? Kankuro?"

Baki's voice made him squeak, though barely audibly. Hearing his sensei's voice seemed to pull the adult him back to the surface. Kankuro opened his mouth but when he tried to speak his words and voice got stuck in his throat and he gripped the desk in front of him to the point that blood smeared the old wood and his fingertips. His shoulders hunched as he slouched over the desk.

Temari rescued him. With a shaky sight the kunoichi's knees shook and she ran her finger through her blond locks. "The Hokage had come to a conclusion that Gaara's body made a replacement for Shukaku's disappearance." She looked up and her watery, cold blue green gaze made the elders shudder. Her voice was harsh and clipped, bitten off at the end of each one with malice when she spoke next, the words sharp as kunai as they pierced their ears. "Because of you bastards and some already dead bastards this is happening to him. Because of you Gaara was born with a monster inside of him, because of you and your decisions he went on his rampages and killed everything that got in his way." She closed her eyes tight and felt tears slip from the tightly closed screens of flesh as she spoke through clenched teeth. "Because of you Gaara died so some fuckers could take that fucking demon out of him!" Her eyes snapped open.

"Because of you and your decisions Gaara left!" Her voice was loud now, nothing like that harsh whispers that flowed through her lips like dangerous lava before. Now, her voice boomed and thundered in the small room, richoteting off the walls with the affects of blazing white hot explosions that became more deadly due to the whiplashing of the sand outside. "Because of you Gaara, mine and Kankuro's baby brother, all of our Kazekage, our villages strongest shinobi is turning into A FULL FLEDGED DEMON!!!"

The elders and Baki gasped, making faces of shock, surprise, fear and disgust. Kankuro let out a strangled sob as he heard the last words explode from his sister's mouth, feeling tears fall from his own eyes to smear his face paint.

Baki reached a hand towards Temari, unable to think much of anything. "Temari…are you sure?"

She glanced at him and flinched from his approaching hand. "What do you think?"

He drew the appendage back and glared at Neku, the youngest of the elders who had let out a small laugh.

Kankuro looked at the brown haired man, the dark eye looking over his shoulder shimmering with tears as he glared at his so called superior with the power and fierceness of a protective big brother.

Neku gave another soft chuckle, oblivious to the glares he was receiving from the youngest compatitants of the room. "I say good riddance to the brat. He was a monster before birth and it's only right that he should turn into his namesake now. Filthy demon."

He had no idea what hit him.

There were loud cries of rage as three poofs were heard followed immediately by large clouds. The elder members gasped as they pressed themselves against the wall, all except Neku who was suddenly held with Kuroi's grip, being pulled back into the puppet's wooden belly that had opened up nice and large to welcome him into. With a startled yelp the last thing he saw before the wood clasped together was Temari's furious expression, fan unsheathed and all three moons revealed. Along with Kankuro's absolutely livid face as he dismembered Karaso, getting ready to slice the elder to bits.

But, there were no daggers or swords plunging into the slits of the puppet to impale him. There were muffled shouts of rage coming from outside the endless darkness of Kuroi's stomach.

The clasps clicked as they came apart and he dove out of the cramped place, taking in deep gulps of breath. He looked up wide eyed and fearful as the puppets disappeared to Temari and Kankuro. The pair were standing there, refusing to look at him as they put away their weapons, their new Kazekage holding one of their shoulders with his hands.

"Perhaps we should inform Konoha of what has happened." Baki's first order as Kazekage started without a seconds thought.

No song for this one but, you know what? It's 3:30 in the morning and frankly I'm too tired to care about a bloody song to put on this chapter. The next one will start with the real action for those who want to see fights and whatnot don't miss it.

_PLEASE REVIEW!! MY BIRTHDAY'S IN A FEW DAYS I EVEN PUT UP ANOTHER CHAPTER BEFORE CHRISTMAS WHEN I SAID I PROBABLY WOULDN'T…PERHAPS I SHOULD WAIT UNTIL I GET FIVE REVIEWS TO UPDATE THIS? I THINK I SHOULD_

_OH, I NEED A BETA IN CASE ANYONE'S INTERESTED_

_MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!_

Ja ne


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Pairings: narugaa shikatem and whoever else you guys want me to pair up

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

Chapter 6

"Hey! Hey will you guys wait up?!"

Naruto and Sakura growled quietly as they ignored their annoying team mate and kept on running. Kakashi sighed as they jumped through the trees, getting closer and closer to the border of the River Country. He glanced over his shoulder at his newest companion who was lagging behind, obviously not caring as much as the other two about their current mission. "C'mon Sai, move it."

The artist let out a sigh that would have made Shikamaru proud –though he, like everyone else hates the boy- as he sped up his pace, grumbling quietly to himself in a voice that wasn't supposed to carry to the two in front though it did anyway. "What's so special about the Uchiha anyway? What makes him so important?"

Again, Kakashi's original students growled as they heard his quiet, antagonizing infuriating question. They ignored him like they have been doing for most of the trip and jumped, startled as a blue jay flew out of its nest that was on the branch they just bounded off of. According to a representative of the River Country Sasuke had been seen with Orochimaru and Kabuto around the parts. It seemed, by the way they were paying close attention to a specific spot that they had found someone very powerful and were attempting to convince the person to assist them in destroying the Leaf Village once and for all.

Of course Sai wouldn't understand the situation. It's been so long since they've seen or heard anything about their childhood friend who went insane and now that they have, of course they will take that opportunity to bring him back home. With them. Where he belongs. Naruto growled to himself, the thought of one missing friend bringing another to his mind.

It has been five months sense the Sand Village had told them of Gaara's disappearance and even though they sent out search parties no one has been able to find him. Like a true ninja, the boy kept to his reputation. The Sand Man, when he doesn't want to be found, he will not be found. Naruto knew that Gaara felt that there was no choice but to leave his village –if only he had thought about what his friend might do when he saw him before him and his siblings went back, maybe he could've done something about it- and he also knew that the red head wouldn't do anything drastic. Sasuke left Konohakagure to gain power from Orochimaru to kill Itachi. Gaara left to…keep his village safe. It was a battle to make the others realize that he wouldn't try to slaughter either village though.

The trees they were currently jumping through were gradually getting thicker and taller, the atmosphere beginning to smell more like rain and moss instead of grass. Sounds were filtering in the woods, animal calls and the winds silent whispers caressed their ears, forcing them into a somewhat calm state of mind.

The team was scoping the area out with their eyes, shedding the branches of their leaves with their sharp gazes. They had to keep an eye out for River ninja as well as Sasuke. They may be allies with them but that doesn't keep them from being threats. If they ran into any of the river teams they may end up in the middle of an unwanted confrontation. They had to keep an eye out for Sasuke as well. The boy would do one of two things. One: he would attack them in hopes of killing them off. Two: he would stay out of their sights, straying completely from their built in 'Uchiha locater'.

Kakashi made a sudden stop, landing on one of the thicker branches. The other three stopped as well, Sakura and Naruto skidding to a halt on the branch in front of their old sensei and Sai halting on the one behind him. "Kakashi sensei?"

The Jounin stood warily from his kneeling position, ignoring Sakura's question for now. He lifted his head protector and let the blood red sharingan scope out the terrain, the famous eye looking even darker than it was supposed to due to the shadows from the thick canopy. The others looked around the forest, their guards on high as they tried to find the source of Kakashi's disturbance. They couldn't find anything wrong, much to their dismay, the air was normal, there wasn't any distressed animal calls, no glints of trip wires or exploding tags. What the hell was bothering him?

Kakashi slowly stood on the spot, now facing the rather bemused artist. Sai made a face as if to ask something when the man screamed. "SAI MOVE!"

The chunin yelped and ducked, barely missing the kunai that went flying through the air, exactly where his head was just moments ago. The brunette did a type of sideways summersault before jumping across to Kakashi's branch at the same time the jounin deflected the triangular weapon with his own. Sakura and Naruto jumped beside him, kunai in their hands as they looked in the direction the weapon came from. Sai took out his sketchbook, getting ready to summon the picture of the lion to life.

"Kakashi what the hell is it?" Naruto's question was harsh as he glared in the thick trees, waiting for another attack at the same time wondering just who their assaulter was.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he began to form hand signs. "It appears that Orochimaru took a little trick from Ataksuki before he left. Though as usual he added his own twist to it."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Sai glared at the silver haired man with one eye and watched the forest warily with the other for approaching enemies.

"We're fighting clones. Clones of ourselves that can do what we do, and think the same way we do."

Before any of the younger ninja could respond there was a sudden flash of golden yellow and orange and Sakura was hit in the gut, forcibly being thrown to the trunk of the tree behind them. The impact gave an audible thwack and the girl let out a tiny moan of pain. The four glared at the assaulter who was now standing upright between Naruto and Kakashi.

Long legs covered in orange pants, slim torso with long arms covered in an orange jacket with black shoulders and a black collar. A round face, forehead protected with a black leaf head protector, golden yellow hair and bright ocean blue eyes, whisker marks adorning each cheek.

Honestly, it was kind of scary to look at him. None of them could even imagine or picture Naruto Uzumaki with an expressionless face and gaze. And there was no way in hell the boy would ever strike Sakura, no doubt the thing was a clone.

Snarling the real Naruto struck out, his right arm twisting in order to strike the others head. The other ducked with the same speed the original Naruto possessed and turned its attention to him. They drew kunai and struck, unfortunately not hitting flesh but mere metal. _This is bad kit. He has my power as well, it would be best to not use my chakra for this. Perhaps if we don't they won't. _Are you fucking serious? What the fuck should I do then?

He never got to hear the fox's response due to the fact that the fake him used the shadow clone jutsu and two more evil Naruto's threw their fists. Naruto jumped out of their way making the familiar seals and with a "Shadow Clone Jutsu" two of him appeared to even the battle field.

The others were about to help before there was a loud animalistic roar and a scribbled lion landed on the branch, slashing the sketchbook out of the artist's hands. Sai watched with wide eyes as the book fell to the ground, pages ripping from the seam from the force of the fall and scattering throughout the forest. Gasping he unsheathed the sword on his back and parried the makeshift claws. "Shit!"

Two dragons made purely of earth flew towards each other, their glistening brown jaws clashing together with the sound of squashing melons. Sakura jumped off the tree her back had met from the fake Naruto's attack at the same time a glowing green fist plowed into the spot where her stomach once was. The tree roared in agony, the wood shuddering as the bark and layers snapped and tore from each other, breaking clean in half. The large trunk fell to the ground, its branches snagging and tearing the leaves and limbs from its companions in the process.

Five hundred yards away eyes opened and a head raised from its resting position as it sensed the disturbance in the air and forest.

Twenty Naruto's crashed together, their snarls loud as they reverberated through the trees. Fuck! Naruto growled as he jumped out of the way of one of his enemies punch. He summoned two more clones and immediately the pair began to rush the chakra in his outstretched palm to circulate…unfortunately his evil self doing the same. There were twin shouts of "Rasengan!" the orbs were thrusted to their counterpart. There was a loud blast and the Naruto's were thrown back with loud yells.

Look for her weakness, look for her weakness, Sakura twisted around the glowing fist as she spun around and swung her foot high to kick the other with her heel. The other dodged the attack and sent one of her own. Their battle was turning less and less from a battle and more and more into a deadly and intricate dance of strength and power as they continuously dodged the enemy's attacks. Trees were being cleared and demolished as their fists missed their targets and struck their old trunks, turning the small area into a flurry of dust and flying bark. Find hr weakness…wait! She is me! What the fuck is my weakness?!

Kakashi was having similar thoughts to that of his only kunoichi student. He was currently somersaulting backwards away from…well himself. Landing on the trunk of what seemed to be a very old tree he began to make the similar hand signs of the fire technique. His sharingan zeroed in on his evil –though very handsome- self and saw the clone making similar seals. He placed his index finger and thumb around his lips and blew. A thin trail of fire escaped through the small circle his lips made grew to a large fire ball that had a ten foot diameter. The flaming ball flew towards his opponent, bark and leaves catching aflame and burning to their death in its wake.

His eyes widened when a large dragon head materialized from nowhere, the creature gathering the moisture from the air, earth and live trees around them. The clear liquid shimmered and glowed in the light from the fire, it's somewhat solidified form roaring as it crashed into the inferno. Immediately a rush of steam erupted into the air and the fire died instantaneously as the water hit it. The dragon's momentum carried it straight through the dying flames, its head evaporating as it flew towards him and his sharingan whirled. He wouldn't make it in time –a broken apart water dragon crashed into his stomach, the hot liquid crushing him against the tree he sat on, simultaneously burning his flesh with the temperature of 100 degrees. Damn it he was a worthy opponent!

Sai gasped as he felt claws rake into his left bicep, the claws tearing through skin and muscle, turning his entire left limb to a bloody pink mass. His teeth ground together to the point of breaking as he glared at the scribbled mass in front of him, gripping his sword he swung. The metal slashed through the drawings throat, causing it to shimmer and disappear, black ink splattered like blood on the silver blade. Growling the chunin threw himself off the branch and to the ground, twisting so he would at least land on his feet. He clutched the torn limb tightly, feeling the burning hot blood drench his hand. He landed heavily on the ground, shuddering from the bone jarring force and ran to the nearest fallen sheet of paper he could reach.

His heart jumped when he heard an ominous roar from the summoning of his enemy's summoned animals. The paper was right there damn it! Move your ass Sai! There was a sound of snapping sails and a harsh, high pitched screech of a bird of prey. Damn it, he has to get to the destroyed sketchbook before the eagle got to him. He ducked forward and fell to his knees in front of a drawing, crying out as he felt the sharp talons tangle in his hair and pull, tearing out a few strands. Placing his thumb on the paper he looked up and saw the eagle turn in the air, its magnificent wings curving to allow the sharp movement. He dragged his thumb across the drawing and watched as a lioness jumped out of the paper and slashed at the oncoming raptor.

A shadow made its way quickly over rock, moving down the mountain at incredibly speed and made its way to the forest.

Naruto growled as he dodged a fist of his attacker. Damn it he was strong! –Though he supposed that's a good thing…but he shouldn't have to fight himself! _Kit! Behind you! _Naruto looked over his shoulder, his eyes wide but it was far too late. A bright, swirling orb of pure raging chakra was coming towards him at a rapid rate and there was no way he would be able to block the rasengan! Naruto screamed, the sound curdling his team mates blood as he felt the raw power of the attack fall on his upper chest. The chakra ate through his clothing like razors cutting paper before it tore into his skin, directly where the dip of his collar bone was. He was thrown back, his body snapping a weak branch in half, wood splintering and cutting his flesh, shedding more blood on his broken body before crashing into a tree, coughing up blood as his momentum created a crater in the bark. He slid down the tree, black dots obscuring his vision as he felt warm blood thread down his front and blinding pain from his back and chest. He was far in the land of unconsciousness when he plopped onto the ground, his clones disappearing in clouds of smoke.

Sakura screamed as she saw her comrade and close friend fall. The wound was horrible, the rasengan had twisted his flesh completely cleaning the skin off his muscles were twisted and bleeding sluggishly and profusely. The fake Naruto looked at the battling Kakashi's and made its way towards them, clones following. The distraction was all her evil self needed. The kunoichi let out a strangled shout, her eyes closing tightly as blood stained her teeth. Pain, sharp horrible pain was in her throat, forcing her to taste the metallic tang of her own blood. It felt like the bone was snapping the same way the branches were, small pieces splintering off as the larger broke in half (what it felt like, not what happened)it seemed like the muscles and her windpipe were breaking and cracking, turning into a useless pile of mush that achieved nothing but the lack of her oxygen intake. The force of the blow sent her flying off the higher branches, making her tumble to the ground with a futile attempt of a battle against gravity, her arms and legs flailing helplessly. Dust flew into the air and she was in unconsciousness before she even made contact.

Kakashi scowled beneath his mask, sweat kneading down his brow and neck making his back sticky. Naruto! Sakura! He wanted to check on them but –a sharp cackling chirping sound so close to his ear made him counteract the chidori with his own and to make his head go back in the battle. The lightning blades crashed off each other, sending a blinding flash of blue light around the forest. The chirping grew louder than normal, the high pitched sound shattering his right ear drum. The Kakashi's jumped back away from each other, both of them standing straight as they evaluated their opponent.

The jounin's eyes widened when he felt air rush around him and he was suddenly surrounded by five Naruto's. The blond's and his own replica jumped toward him, their palms glinting with the chakra of chidori and multiple rasengans. He attempted to make a jump for it, to find a way out of the mob and make a break out of the circle before an agonizing pain tore through his back, muscles, spine and flesh twisting until a clean hole was engraved there. The bright chidori dove into his jugular, his enemy's hand diving in so fast he didn't even feel pain.

There was a sudden poof and a cloud of smoke and a large broken log floated in his place (haha you thought I killed him didn't you ;P). He was breathing heavily as he stood behind a tree, leaning against the unforgiving bark.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Sai groaned as he bent over his wounded arm. Blood was blanketing his arm now, the entire limb nothing but the color of red the crimson was even covering his right hand and the hilt of his sword. The drawn creatures were currently tearing at each other, claws clashing against talons, feathers and fur bristling. Fangs and razor beaks tearing into fake flesh, ink dripping on the dirt and grass like blood. He saw Naruto and Sakura thirty yards away from him, both forms down and covered in blood. Was this it? Was this his fate? Death?

It seemed so.

For at that precise moment he felt another being behind him. Brown eyes widened to plates as his mouth pursed. A choked yell rang through the forest as he felt cold metal slash against his unprotected back. Blood streamed from the deep wound in rivers, covering his back in crimson. There was a sharp pain on the top of his head –he elbowed him!- before everything went dark.

The shadow jumped through the trees, nose twitching as it smelled the horrifyingly tantalizing smell of blood. Sharp eyes searched through the destroyed forest, landing on the clones and fallen shinobi. As the gaze fell on the broken and battered blond rage, pure, raw, unadulterated rage filled its entire being. Snarling the shadow jumped into the next tree, watching as three of the blond clones ambushed and slashed elongated claws against the silver haired ninja's temples. The man dropped and the shadow let everything but rage and protectiveness leave it.

Naruto groaned as he blinked his eyes open. An ache was wafting in his chest and he lightly fingered the delicate, newly grown skin. It seemed Kyuubi healed the wound even though the fox hasn't woken up yet. He sat up with a gasp. Where was he? Where were the others? Where were the clones? He was cold, the air feeling damp and uncomfortable. Sunlight was shining in through the mouth of the cave, making him believe it was a little past noon. The light was shedding brightness on the walls and ceilings of the caves, showing off the dazzling stalagmites.

Sakura was –he let out a sigh of relief- currently healing Sai's arm, her medical ninjutsu stitching the muscle and skin back together. The girl looked terrible, her pink hair matted with blood, her clothing covered in crimson spots, her leggings hanging in tatters. Sai was covered in bruises, his left side completely covered in dried blood, his eyes unfocused, his breathing slowly evening out. He was being uncharacteristically quiet and docile. Kakashi was standing across from them, his back towards them so the jinchurriki couldn't see the severity of his wounds.

His posture was stiff, his entire being seeming to be focused completely on the inside of the cave. As Naruto looked he saw that the cave expanded, curving into an uneven tunnel, rocks hazzardly sitting on the walls. His skin prickled from the strange sensation emanating from the caves interior.

Sakura released a heavy sigh as she stood, her body tired from using so much chakra. Sai winced as he stood as well, his eye twitching from the pain in his healed back. The kunoichi smiled as she saw Naruto's open eyes. "You're awake. How're you feeling? Do you need me to heal anything for you?"

Touched at her sincere concern he closed his eyes and smiled contently. "I'm fine." She nodded and looked away as he got to his feet, his jacket and shirt still torn and most of the pain dissipating from his inhuman healing abilities.

"Kakashi sensei?" The man jerked his head, the only indication for the girl to continue. "How are we alive? The clones should have killed us." Each member felt a wave of shame pass through them at the last six words. Pathetic, they couldn't even defeat themselves. Absolutely pathetic.

The jounins eyes narrowed as he began to walk into the interior of the cave. "I don't know, but I intend to find out." The others didn't even protest as they followed their team leader, his voice had gone dark with determination and they all knew not to argue with that determination.

Another reason…they were fucking curious as well.

The further they went into the cave the darker it became. The air got colder and their skin prickled as hair stood on end. Something was definitely wrong here. And despite their instincts telling them to make a run for it they went further in, their curiosity peaked. Water was running down the alcoves created by the joined rocks, mixing the smell of dirt and lake water into the air.

Turning the group found that the tunnel expanded, spanning out until the ceiling was over ten feet high and the walls separated by twenty feet of air. It didn't appear to be dark anymore, at least not your average every night darkness. It seemed as if something was there, floating in the air and making everyone believe the makeshift blanket of night.

Kakashi made a few hand signs and knelt placing his hands on the ground. Light exploded in the room in a flurry of colors, causing the younger three to flinch and cover their eyes from the very abrupt change. The jounin made a low surprised sound in his throat as his light chased away the darkness. But, what bothered him most was not the change in vision. But the thing in the center of the room.

Naruto, Sakura and Sai warily lowered their hands, squinting in the brightness, trying to get used to the change. When their vision cleared enough all three gasped, Naruto even made a very slight movement forward. Sai was the only one who didn't grasp what the others were, he didn't understand why the others were tensing up and looking so shocked.

The figure was sitting on the ground, its back facing them. Surrounding it were seals, multiple upon multiple of black seals, scribbled on the walls like calligraphy that crawled towards the figure in the center. The seals were in a circle around it, a five foot diameter for it to move around. It was wearing a black –rather tight- trench coat, its arms looking to be folded in front of it but, they assumed that the arms were completely covered as well. A light brown vest was on top of the coat, a thick strap going around its left shoulder and what looked to be buckles wrapping around its middle. The slim, long neck was covered by the coats collar, the head covered in blood red hair. On the top of its head were two ears, slightly stubby and rounded and just as deep a shade as the mane that settled around them.

Naruto gulped, his nostrils flaring slightly as his pupils shrank to pin points. His voice was very quiet, sounding almost too frightened to believe the word coming from his own mouth. "Gaara?" He took a step forward, then another when he saw those rounded ears twitch. Could it really…really be him?

He was pulled roughly back by Kakashi and frankly was too shocked to be angry. "Don't Naruto. It may look like Gaara but remember what he was going to become. Look at him, closely." He dug his fingers into the blond's shoulder, his voice hushed as if afraid those twitching ears could hear his words.

Naruto looked. Yes, he knew Gaara was supposed to become the next demon but…it was Gaara for crying out loud! He couldn't just leave him! Though, now that he observed the details he was able to see the substance that had made that makeshift darkness not too long ago. He could see and feel the black chakra threading out of the red head's body, his primal instincts making him want to run from the figure in front of him who was neither human nor animal.

Sakura stood, rooted to the spot. W-was this really Gaara? T-this chakra –she wanted to run, run fast and hard, do anything in order to get away, to get far, far away- it wasn't normal! A tiny sound like a frightened kitten escaped her sealed lips.

Sai stood in shock. He didn't know who this Gaara person was –though by his team mate's reactions they obviously knew him. And he could remember hearing the name brought up some times before- but this feeling wasn't natural. He didn't like it.

Kakashi took a deep breath, taking in gulps of air. He pursed his lips and released his hold on Naruto's shoulder –surprisingly the boy didn't move. He spoke louder this time, though he had a feeling that the –boy?- in front of him already heard everything he's said. "If you are Gaara, prove it. Let us see your face."

The figure responded to that. A soft, low, humorless laugh escaped it –him?- the thin shoulders jumping in time with the sound, those blood red ears swiveling flat against –his?- head before going upright again. The voice was raspy and low and dangerous and very much Gaara. "You want to see my face? I don't believe that will make you believe it to be me…actually it will only frighten you more. But, if you insist…"

The figure –no, Gaara- stood to his full height, displaying the black sleeves that extended far past his hands. He turned slowly, unintentionally adding onto the suspense and tension already in the air.

Sakura muffled the scream attempting to break out of her throat by covering her mouth –she knew Gaara was a very unstable child, if he saw too much negativity…-. Fear filled her green eyes and she took a step backwards, her entire body trembling. Subconsciously knowing that she was making his emotions worse by showing physically that she wanted to get away…

Sai wasn't fairing any better, in fact he was worse. He retreated so quickly that his own two feet tripped him and he fell flat on his ass. Not even seeming to comprehend that he fell he scrambled back on his hands, his eyes wide like a petrified animal, when his back hit the wall his fear only heightened. I'm trapped w-with t-this th-thing…..

Kakashi didn't make any sounds and he refused his body the movement it wanted to make. He could feel Naruto's body stiffen to the max beside him but, when he looked at him, there was no fear in those blue eyes. Only sympathy and pain.

The leggings of Gaara's trench coat flapped softly around his legs, the black chakra disrupting their peace. His black pants were tight on his muscular legs a light brown strap was beneath both knee caps. His pants flared slightly at his ankles where they stopped and his feet were the answer as to why he sprouted an inch and a half.

He was standing on his toes, his heels up in the air. His left foot was covered in black fur, the feet –paws- seemed to be padded and they were…muscled –strange seeing as how they're…paws…-, in the same way of a big cats. His right paw had patches of red and black fur, the red as dark as blood and the same shade as his hair. The fur went all the way up the appendage until it disappeared underneath the pant legs. Their gazes traveled upwards, taking in the lithely muscled form. Their eyes landed on his face and Naruto felt a tear slip from one of his eyes.

His skin was as pale as ever, thin pink lips held in a frown. The kanji was bleeding. Blood glittered as it slid from the somehow reopened scar, miraculously the blood making the wound appear even darker than it was before. The blood leaked in streaks down his brow, trailing into the dark circles around his eyes. The black had spread, the circles appearing to shrink as they spread across his face in thin, jagged lines, crossing over his nose and stretching across his cheeks, some even split his lips and went under his chin. The white in his eyes were completely black, making up for the lack of darkened circles, the only difference between his and Shukaku's eyes were the color. There was no golden yellow, his eyes were still there. The vibrant and feral shine in those green eyes far more pronounced with the darkness surrounding them.

Gaara of the Desert.

What has happened to you?

Well, there's chap. 6 I liked it but I'd much rather hear your opinions on it.

I'VE GOT A BETA NOW AND THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO OFFERED

I WAS WONDERING…DO YOU GUYS PREFER THE SONGS WITH THE CHAPTERS OR DO YOU NOT CARE OR DO YOU NOT WANT ME TO DO THEM? CAUSE I'M NOT SURE ABOUT THE WHOLE THEMESONG FOR EVERY CHAPTER ANYMORE.

PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE FOR GAARA KUN!!

HAVE A JOLLY, JOLLY CHRISTMAS

Ja ne


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Pairings: narugaa shikatem and whoever else you guys want me to pair up

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

Chapter 7

Naruto made a quiet unsure sound as he attempted to step forward. He would have succeeded if Kakashi hadn't made the sudden move to grab at his shoulder. He could feel the jounin shaking, the very slight tremor that just barely disrupted the tiny hairs on his flesh. The man was scared, any blind person could see that and he had good reason to be Naruto supposed. Gaara did look very, very intimidating.

Those tiny ears were flexing, twisting and recoiling as he sensed the downright terror in the dome structure of the cave that could be called a room. The blond realized with a jolt that the boy's human ears were gone and that the red hair was slightly longer and shaggier. Those green eyes were switching from person to person, sweeping over them and digging into their minds, driving through their eyes and into their brains. He could easily read that they didn't want to be there with him, that they were terrified –so scared that they couldn't even understand the primitive feeling- and wanted to escape.

Naruto wanted to cry. Not out of fear, for some reason he wasn't afraid, he knew Gaara wouldn't hurt them –intentionally- and… at the moment he couldn't even begin to comprehend how the other felt. Naruto glanced over at Kakashi, the man's visible eye narrowed and beads of sweat were running down his forehead. He was frightened, but, unlike the others he was trying to keep it in check, trying not to have the young man before them get even the smallest of glances of that fear. It wasn't working, but at least he was trying to put Gaara's feeling above his own.

However, Naruto wanted to yell at his other teammates. Sakura the most. She knew Gaara's personality, knew that the child reacted to emotions, to fear. She knew that the more fear Gaara felt coming from others around him caused him to get edgy and more unstable. Yet, she wasn't hiding her feelings at all. She was shaking, her entire body visibly trembling as she retreated slowly, one foot back at a time. Her eyes were large as her mouth gaped, the exact expression of someone who wanted to flee.

Sai was worse. Though Naruto couldn't be as angry with him as Sakura because the artist had never met Gaara so therefore didn't know of the boy's working mind. He was literally pushing himself up against the wall, his feet and hands scrambling wildly as the white was completely visible around the entire iris. He didn't seem to understand that with the wall there, behind him, he wasn't going to escape any farther.

Tears slipped out of oceanic blue eyes as he looked back to his friend. Unlike the others he could see the difference in Gaara's mental state. Their fear wasn't helping him. His muscles were twitching, his upper lip barely curling into a miniscule snarl. Those red and black paws were taking the slightest of steps back as he tried to ignore the onslaught of feelings overriding his small body.

Of course. They were terrified. Inside Gaara was crumbling in on himself, falling into a corner as he tried to hold back the tears. He knew he was different, he knew he looked worse, he knew that damn it. But, it was still him wasn't it? Wasn't that what this jutsu was supposed to do? Keep him himself? Too bad they didn't realize that his eyes were the same, they may be brighter but…they hold the same emotions and intelligence as he did before…why didn't they see that?!

Naruto seemed to. Thankfully. Gaara could feel his heart shatter as Kakashi forced the blond back from him. He wanted the blond with him…he wanted to be like the blond…he wanted…he didn't know what he wanted. But he did know that if Naruto looked the same way as the others he would break, and turn his mind into the killer it wanted to become.

Sakura took a step forward, forcing her body to make the necessary steps it took to move to her old sensei. Keeping her eyes on the transformed Gaara she touched the silver haired man with her fingertips. "I think we should leave Kakashi sensei." Her words were whispered and shaking and Kakashi had to strain his ears so he could hear the girl.

Before he could respond they both jumped and Sakura gave out a little shriek. Gaara's eyes had hardened and he skinned back his lips, his teeth ground together as he growled at them. With a start their eyes zeroed in on his eye teeth they had become sharper, they could see the tips of the four fangs, each glittering and they knew that they could break skin with little effort. "Don't speak as if I can't hear you," his voice was harsh and cold and a low grumbling made itself heard from within his throat. "I'm tired of the whispers as you try to hide your words from me…perhaps you haven't noticed…" he flicked his ears, "My ears are a lot more advanced than yours. I can hear every sound uttering from your lips, even the little whimpers that you don't know you're releasing."

Kakashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath before reopening them. "Forgive us Gaara, we won't do that again." The boy/demon gave the barest of nods, his lips covering his teeth as he accepted the apology. "How long have we been here?" The man ignored Sakura's tug on his sleeve as she tried to make him leave. He was curious and perhaps if they were polite Gaara would give them information…

"You've been unconscious for one night. I brought you here yesterday late afternoon." Gaara looked away for a moment, blessing the group with the dismissal of his cold stare. "I dealt with your clones for you, though it is rather sad that you couldn't deal with them yourselves." Naruto was the only one who didn't bristle at the red head as he spoke the exact thoughts that were in their heads as they awoke not even an hour ago.

Gaara knew that last statement was rude and hurtful, but at the moment…he really couldn't care less. They were causing him pain by simply being afraid of him even though they should know he would never hurt them. He had every right to be pissy.

Scowling, the frustration starting to overpower the fear, Kakashi asked him with control, "What are those seals around you? And how come you're not trying to kill us?"

The air grew tense as the green eyes snapped to meet the one brown. The bastard actually thinks that he would…?! The pink haired nuisance took a step back, noticing the sudden anger and rivalry flowing between the two. Naruto glanced from one to the other, lightly pushing his sensei's hand off his shoulder as he two, stepped away. "These seals Kakashi are to keep my demon self in check. While I'm within them the demon side of me can't take over my mind, though it obviously doesn't stop my body from changing."

The jounin nodded, his feathers ruffled for reasons unknown to even him. "Sounds like a valuable jutsu. Forbidden no doubt. Though I can tell that you would just jump for any excuse to kill us all wouldn't you? After all…you are turning into a monster and no doubt you never completely changed after your fight with Naruto."

Gaara's eyes widened at the jibe and his ears pressed flat. His bloody mane was bristling, the blood flowing from the reopened scar in faster and thicker rivers. His toes spread and inch long claws extended from between them, their tips scratching groves into the soft dirt beneath his paws. The black chakra was boiling now, escaping from his body and flaring like ragged black flames. _HOW DARE HE_The walls shook from the power of the chakra, stalagmites falling and crashing to the ground creating clouds of dust. The seals flickered slightly before flaring, their letters glowing as they enhanced the barrier around the enraged boy who seemed to be falling to the demon's whims. His green eyes flashed, a bright beam exploding from deep within them and mixing in with the black surrounding, his fangs ground together so tightly they verged on the path of breaking. The jagged lines on his face thickened and grew rounder, as if turning into spots.

Sai gave out a pitiful squealing sound that was very similar to that of a dying pig, he scrambled onto his hands and knees and crawled quickly over to Sakura, his limbs shaking as he felt the tremor running through the earth that was positively bawling in despair from the abuse the black chakra was inflicting. He grabbed a fistful of her shirt and pulled, trying to pull her back, though she seemed too terrified to move. She was incredibly stiff, her fingers outstretched as her palms pressed into her thighs, a mewling noise was escaping from her throat, her eyes wide as all of her instincts screamed at her to run…the beast before them all sending a message directly into their blood…a threat that would be impossible for mere humans to handle. But she was unable to move, her feet rooted to the trembling earth, refusing to respond to the signals her brain was directing to them.

Naruto's eyes widened as he stared open mouthed at Kakashi. How…? Why…? His sensei wasn't like this!!! Why was he speaking this way to the distraught red head?! Red eyes snapped open and the blond could feel Kyuubi moving about in his cage, nine tails flapping before five of them flung between his hind legs, displaying his own apprehension like the dog species he truly was. He bared his teeth at the blond who appeared in front of the bars of his cage, his fur bristling as his long ears were pressed back. _Kit…what the hell is going on?! _The demon could feel the ten tails rage, could practically taste that bitter and spicy tang of pure fury. His host was looking just as disturbed as he was feeling the human's body was shaking as he looked up into the fox's red eyes. Kakashi is what happened…I don't know why…He was showing some form of compassion a few minutes ago so why…? Kyuubi glanced at the jounin through his vessel's eyes, his red orbs narrowing as he tried to decipher the silver haired man's motives for angering the other demon. _Something isn't right Kit…there's something wrong with him…__it's like he's provoking your friend into attacking._

Gaara growled his eyes impossibly wide as he felt the power of the seals chakra battling with the demon side of him, attempting to drag it back into its confines of chains. He could feel it, could feel his demonic self pressuring him into attacking, to tear out the offensive human's throat and swallow all of the delicious blood… Kami, he almost wanted to, he suddenly missed the taste and feel of the metallic liquid running down his throat, missed the screams of agony his victim would always release and he missed the smell as his victim slowly changed into a corpse. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the blood induced thoughts as he rapidly reminded himself that this was the precise reason he set up the seals, so he would be able to control himself.

Frowning he glared at Kakashi, human intelligence starting to battle with demonic instincts. The jounin wasn't like this, he always tried to avoid conflict if it was possible, not start it. He honed his chakra, threading small tendrils of into the air directed at his offender. Immediately something started to glow in the man's temple and Gaara had a sudden flashback of watching Naruto's clones rake against the fragile skin. Was something implanted?

Without warning Gaara lashed out, his hand streaking out of the barrier faster than anyone's eye could follow. A second passed and Sakura made a sound between a gasp and a scream, her hands flying to her mouth. Sai gurgled as he stared at the blood that slowly dripped from his team leader's left temple.

Nartuo stared in shock, the attack was completely unexpected and he heard Kyuubi's whisper as the fox demon watched through his eyes as well. _It appears he figured it out…_ Figured it out? What does that mean? Kyuubi? Kyuubi! The fox didn't answer and at least that much was usual.

Kakashi blinked as he felt a dull throb in his head, starting from his temple and spreading across his forehead. He met infuriated green eyes dead on and felt a flash of extreme guilt. He knew everything that he had been saying, but for some reason something was forcing him to provoke the child, despite his reluctance. There was a crumbling sound to his left and he felt droplets of blood flow from the small wound engraved in his temple.

Gaara gave a low growl and drew back his hand. Kakashi covered the wound with a slight wince but stared in shock at the object Gaara was holding just like everyone else in the room. First off, the group was a tad bit surprised at the transformation of the pale hand. There was a light sheen of red and black fur on it, starting from within the sleeve and stopping at the tip of his fingers, the patch of hair thin, barely displaying any color. His fingers were curled slightly, his thumb curled farther away from his index than a normal humans, making it somewhat awkward to attempt to hold onto the crumbled piece of paper held within his sharp claws.

He looked up from the paper, it seemed as if Orochimaru had left a little present behind should the group survive. The kanji written on the sheet were similar to the curse marks written on the ones the sannin had used against the Third Hokage back in the Chunin Exams when he had bent the resurrected First and Second Hokages to his will by placing the papers into their backs. Letting his snarl die down so it was a little less imposing Gaara growled out low with the demon's influence still thrumming through him. "_Absolutely pathetic Hatake. I would've expected you of all people to be able to repress urges like these. Apparently I was wrong." _He crumbled the sheet into a ball, allowing his chakra to flow out of his palm and burn it.

Team Seven just stared in shock, none more so than Kakashi who looked at the pile of ash on the ground in shame. He couldn't repress it…how disgusting. The jounin bowed to the calming boy in front of him, his eyes closed as he stated his apology. "Please forgive me Gaara san. I-I did not mean a word I said just now, the Gaara we met at the Chunin Exams is completely buried. Please, I didn't intend to hurt you-"

"Oh hush up Kakashi." Gaara placed his hand back to his side, letting the sleeve hide his hand once again as his chakra dissipated along with his anger. His snarl died and his ears went back up, his claws retracting back between his toes. "Your apology is accepted," the jounin stood and looked at the younger with a grateful eye.

Sakura moved forward and pressed her hand near her sensei's head, her palm glowing green as she worked her jutsu. Looking from Gaara to her task she said quietly, "How did that get there?"

The demon sighed as he fell gracefully to the floor, crossing his legs and the seals calmed down. Placing his hands into his lap Gaara looked up at the group, ignoring the brunette still on the floor gawking at him…truthfully he wondered who the boy was and just as truthfully he didn't really care. "Orochimaru no doubt left those clones there for you to battle. He expected one of two outcomes. One: you all die there and then, probably from Naruto's clones losing control of the cloned Kyuubi. Two: you survive, and if you were to survive, he had the clones place that tag into one of you so he could have temporary control."

The group nodded but Naruto let out his confusion, dropping to the floor to sit in the same manor of that of his friend. "Okay, that makes sense but…why would Orochimaru want Kakashi sensei to provoke you?"

Gaara looked down at that, unsure of the answer because he had never met the snake man face to face. He only knew the sannin's personality because of the stories he heard from Naruto and the rumors spread about the entire world. Kakashi answered his pupil's question, his head slightly nudging into the pleasurable feelings of the medical chakra threading into his skull. "Gaara, has he been showing up here?"

Snorting the red head didn't look up, rasping annoyingly he stated, "Unfortunately. I haven't met with him but I could feel him moving around my territory (which is what this section of the river country was now). Why?"

Kakashi nodded silently before uttering a muffled grunt as Sakura smacked him on the back of the head, causing a headache to form rapidly from the spot and spread like wild fire. "Don't move you're messing up the healing process."

Grumbling quietly he answered the boy's question. "He probably knows that you're here than and he most likely expected us to find you after our battle if we survived. Or he probably expected you to come to our rescue like you did. Most likely Orochimaru wanted me to piss you off badly enough to get you to kill us, alienating the threat we are to him and Sasuke."

The five stiffened, allowing the theory to process into their minds, letting them mull over the very probable possibility. Gaara curled his nose in disgust. So, Orochimaru attempted to use him again eh? The first time was during the destruction of the Leaf Village during the Chunin Exams, the sannin had wanted to use him as a weapon to ultimately destroy Konoha. Thankfully Naruto prevented that though. Now the bastard was trying to use him to kill his friend and his friend's friends?! What the hell! Gaara cracked his knuckles and shook his head a little. This only added onto Gaara's want to meet and kill the man. Not only did Orochimaru attempt to use him twice now, he killed his father, who was Gaara's prey alone.

Sakura dropped her hands and said quietly, "There, you're all patched up again Kakashi sensei." Looking down at Gaara she felt a flare of pity and fear, the boy was probably engrossed in a lot of anger at the moment. Not only with Orochimaru and them but himself as well. She looked over at Sai who was still on the floor, his fingers still curled in the fabric of her shirt. His brown eyes were wide and he seemed unable to take his eyes off the boy.

Gaara looked up from the floor and at his companions. He wanted to speak with Naruto and Naruto alone. "Would you please go back to the cave's entrance, there's something I would like to say to Naruto." His request wasn't really a request, the words were in the form of a request but his tone was nothing short of a command. Naruto tilted his head to the side, confused and curious as to what his friend wanted to say to him.

The others stiffened slightly before nodding. Kakashi turned his back on the two and began to tread out of the room and back into the tunnel leading to the cave entrance, his guilt still in his heart, making his decision all the more easier to make. Sakura left a minute after, unsure about leaving her closest friend alone with the Sand Man. She had to pluck Sai off the floor and drag him to his feet, as he was still dazedly kneeling on the ground. As she walked through the tunnel she could feel Gaara's green eyes move from her back to Sai's who was currently a few feet behind her.

Sai looked over his shoulder and his eyes met with the emotionless green. So, this was Gaara? His mind was split in two at the moment, his rational side battling with his artistic side. His rational side was screaming at him to move faster, to distance himself from that freak and to ignore the fascination pouring in from his artistic side. As an artist Sai was able to see beauty in things that others would call disgusting. He had a feeling that the others weren't disgusted by the being that they were leaving behind with the blond idiot but he also had the feeling that they couldn't see the beauty engraved into the red head's body and presence alone. The red head was gorgeous in a way, the way the blood from the scar and the shade of his hair clashed with his snow white skin was positively captivating. The twitching animal ears and paws were so out of place on a human body that it had immediately captured his attention and even in his terrified state of mind he was picturing the gorgeousness of the being itself. Those green eyes drowning in a sea of black were so vibrant that they nearly exceeded past the color of the human vision, and the _viciousness _and the raw _power _when he had gotten enraged by Kakashi's influenced speech was inspiring. There was a mission in his mind now, some sort of goal pressing into his head that implored him to draw the creature he had just left. Ah, how beautiful a picture it would make as well….

After they were out of sight Naruto shifted so he was directly in front of his friend, a smile on his face. Gaara looked straight into his eyes, his nostrils flaring slightly but before he could even open his mouth Naruto asked a question.

"So, when your body is done…transforming or whatever…what animal do you think you'll be?" The question was cautious bordering on the excitement of a child waiting to open up a birthday gift the blond was even leaning forward placing most of his weight on his hands that he had pressed onto the ground as his face came very close to the invisible barrier.

Gaara cocked his head to the side, mentally grateful that the barrier is just that, a barrier and that it wouldn't cause any pain if someone or something touched it, for Naruto's nose was a mere inch from it. Honestly, he hasn't really given the prospect of what species of animal he was going to morph into much thought, never really caring enough to entertain the slight curiosity. Now though that Naruto had asked it, he mulled over the different animals, thinking about both his personality traits and how his body had transformed so far.

"I'm not really sure to be honest with you." Gaara rolled his eyes upwards so they rested on the ceiling, subconsciously asking himself as to why he was suddenly talking so much. Reverting his attention back to the blond he added quietly, "Most likely some sort of cat though."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and "mmmed" while nodding slowly and placing his chin in his left index and thumb as he scrutinized the red head. The rounded ears were certainly trademarks of a cat, as well as the paws muscular structure, Gaara's personality tended to board on the brink of passiveness, feisty, dangerous and dare he think it? Compassionate at times, all traits of cats, the big jungle ones and domesticated both. The jagged lines running across the red head's face reminded him a bit of a tiger, but when he had gotten angry at Kakashi the lines had turned into spots, reminding him of a leopard or jaguar. Shrugging he figured that they would both know sooner or later.

Gaara was currently mentally thanking whatever Kami was there right now for making it so at least Naruto wasn't running away from him in fear. Despite his obvious changes the blond seemed to still like him just as much as he did before. He didn't know what would happen to him if Naruto reacted like everyone else.

"So," his low rasp made the blue eyes jump from his new features to his eyes as he attempted to start a conversation. Letting his curiosity get the better of him he asked quietly, "Who was the new one? That brunette with the strange clothing."

Naruto chuckled at the way Gaara worded Sai. "Ah, Sai, he's new to the team. Ever sense Sasuke left Team Seven has been short one person so he's replacing him." Naruto's amusement seemed to disappear at the thought of Sasuke, turning into frustrated determination. "Me and the others were coming over here because we had heard from a representative that Sasuke had been spotted around these parts. But, it seems as if he really doesn't want us to find him if he set up those traps with Orochimaru."

Honestly Gaara couldn't understand it. He may not have known what had happened to the Uchiha in the past to make his eyes look so bent on to prove his purpose in life but still. The brat was apparently power hungry and Gaara remembered when the two fought in the forest and also when he had found him training with Hatake before the final exams how he stated that the Uchiha did indeed know true suffering. And that his eyes displayed that he wanted to destroy the one who had made him suffer through it. Uchiha may have felt that he was alone because of something that had happened to him but…he was not alone. Naruto had come to his defense the second Gaara had been about to crush him in Shukaku's palm, even Sakura had stood up against the half transformed Gaara when he rushed forward to finish the kill when Naruto had been distracted by his fear. The Uchiha had Naruto, had Sakura and Kakashi and how many other people but still he abandoned Konoha.

All in all. In Gaara's eyes…Sasuke Uchiha is the biggest idiot the world had ever had the grace to let walk the earth.

A bastard as well. Not only did Gaara somewhat hate him for being the first to truly maim him physically but also for what he did to Naruto.

Exhaling loudly through his nose Gaara exclaimed quietly, "Naruto Uzumaki, I swear that if I find Sasuke Uchiha before you…I will keep him in place long enough for you to collect him."

Naruto who had been glaring at the ground after admitting to himself that Sasuke had indeed assisted Orochimaru in trapping them to their deaths felt a jolt run through his body as his eyes went wide beyond comparison. Looking up he slowly met Gaara's gaze, his lips slightly parted as the words that Gaara had just said thundered through his skull. There was nothing but pure sincerity in those orbs, and Naruto couldn't help but replay the way the words were spoken over and over in his head. They were threaded with truth and by the tone of the sentence they were an absolute promise, like when Naruto had first sworn to Sakura how he would bring Sasuke home.

A soft smile adorned his face as he stared gratefully into his friend's eyes, warm tears burning behind the sockets. "Thank you." Gaara bowed his head, not breaking eye contact and Naruto couldn't even begin to explain the warm feeling spreading in his heart and belly.

But…there was still another issue. The smile melted into a thin line as Naruto began to think about Gaara not being where he truly belonged, in his home in Suna. "We all miss you Gaara…Baki's doing a pretty good job being Kazekage and all but he obviously is upset on how he was suddenly appointed." His voice was soft and tempting and Gaara found himself looking away, already knowing where the conversation was headed.

"We need you to come back Gaara…I understand how you feel about their reactions to this whole," Naruto swung his right arm in a sweeping motion, "Demon thing but, you can always bring this jutsu with you! I mean as long as you're in that you're still you! It's killing Temari and Kankuro Gaara! They feel as if what's going on is their fault, and honestly I've never seen them in so much pain." Naruto gulped as he looked at his friend, how Gaara refused to meet his eyes and his ears had begun to sink in depression.

Gaara knew he was most likely hurting his siblings by leaving them, Kami he was hurting. His heart was aching and pounding and he just wanted to be held and reassured like a lost child and he suddenly found himself missing Shukaku's presence. The tanuki had always been there, through good and bad and had always helped him, sung him lullabies that would sometimes cause him to fall asleep and wreak havoc among the townsfolk but at least during those times Shukaku never went too far and Gaara had been able to find peace for once. Shukaku had always talked with him, kept him company even though his company had helped him turn completely and raving mad as he decided that to kill was his existence. Now, with the demon gone all that was left was himself and frankly he was scared. He had always been told he was a monster, a demon that would always kill and never be loved. He rarely trusted or acted on his instincts and what others demanded of him and Shukaku had been able to help by giving generous words of advice when he was confused as to what extent to follow their orders and what his instincts said. Now, he was expected to listen to his own thoughts, no one else's and no one was there to help him, all that was there was him and his demon side which wanted to take complete control. He was scared and in pain but there was nothing that could be done about it. He was protecting his village by not being there and he was protecting Konoha by not bothering them with his presence.

Naruto closed his eyes and let his crystalline tears fall as Gaara said softly, "I'm sorry…please tell Temari and Kankuro that I'm sorry as well and that I…I miss them."

His throat burned as he stood and nodded muttering a silent, "Sure thing," before turning to leave. His heart felt like it was breaking into pieces as he walked out of the room without turning around or glancing back. Gaara was his closest comrade, closer than Sasuke and he was hoping that he would be able to talk Gaara into going back to his village but apparently that was no good. It was almost like dealing with the Sasuke incident all over again except this time he wasn't left with any physical wounds, now…his heart had been stabbed and torn into shreds. He didn't feel betrayed, for he felt that Gaara knew what he was doing and would figure out eventually that his village needed him and by staying away he wasn't helping but only hurting.

The bright sunshine that assaulted his face as he exited the gloomy tunnel seemed completely out of place and he wished with all his might that storm clouds would bloom.

Chapter 7 ladies and gents is now complete. Though I must admit I didn't really plan a thing on this chapter it all just came pouring out…oh well.

HOPE YOU ALL HAD A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOT EVERYTHING THAT YOU WANTED. ORIF YOU CELEBRATE SOMETHING ELSE I HOPE YOU HAD FUN DOING THAT TO

NOW ALL THAT'S LEFT IS A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PLEASE REVIEW FOR GAARA!

Ja ne


	8. Chapter 8

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Pairings: narugaa shikatem and whoever else you guys want me to pair up

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

Chapter 8

"AAAAAGGHHH!!!"

In his current state Sai didn't look too good. In fact the boy was a horrible mess, his dark hair thrown up in the air in every direction and heavy bags below his eyes. It had been three days since the group had gotten back from the River country and he hadn't slept at all. His skin was paler than normal and his hands were currently digging into his hair, nearly pulling out the unwashed strands. He hasn't eaten, hasn't slept, hasn't showered or bathed, hell he hasn't done anything but sit in front of his mahogany desk since the second they took step into Konoha!

The artist giggled as he brought his already bruised forehead down to meet the dented wood with a hard crash. Repeating the action over and over again he tore one of his hands off of his head and smashed it down on the paper beside the place where his head was creating a large crater into the wood. The long fingers curled in the sheet as he crumbled it up into a tight little ball and threw it haphazardly into the already over flowing trash can on the other side of the room. "It wasn't right…It's not good enough damn it!" The boy had thrown his head against the wood so many times not only was the wood facing serious damage that threatened to break his head felt like it was about to explode, his brain pounding against the rattling exterior of his skull.

Hehehehe….oh that wasn't even the best part either….No, Sai could swear that he was hearing voices. Little voices shrieking nice and high pitched that positively screamed in his conscious. It's not good enough, he was prettier than that. NO!! He was more terrifying than that. NO!! He was far more sad than anything else…

Over and over again he wanted them to just "SHUT UP!" Which of course the little voices never did.

Why do you ask? The reason is simple. Ever since Team Seven left the cave within River country his heart and mind had been sent into one sheer purpose. To draw that Gaara person. The pictures that he could create were flooding into his head every second, causing him to be far more silent and docile than anyone had ever known. When he first tried to lie down to sleep the pictures assaulted his head, refusing his slumber and it happened every time that he tried to eat or bathe as well. Good Kami it was so aggravating!

He had thought up of a million different poses that he could draw the creature in and when he placed them down on paper it just didn't look right. Hence the over flowing trash can. He had felt so much emotion in the air when he saw Gaara surrounded by the sea of blackness and seals but damn it he didn't know the boy. And unfortunately his imagination wasn't going to let him draw anything remotely good enough about the boy until he found out how his mind ticked.

Raising his head he groggily rubbed his temples trying to fight off the pounding self inflicted head ache. Grumbling he stood from the chair and stretched, his muscles aching from the little movement that they had gone through in the last three days. His stomach growled at him, furiously starving from the lack of nutrition and even though his mind was repulsed by the fact that he wanted to eat at such a time as this he walked out the door, feeling like barbeque for some odd reason. Who knows perhaps on his little outing he'll be able to gather information on Gaara.

The bright light the sun was casting off was blinding to the artist who had been cooped up in the darkness of his apartment for seventy-two hours. He was getting strange looks from everyone he passed and he forced a smile, trying to be friendly. A few girls that seemed to be in their mid twenties gave him disgusted looks and completely ignored him. Oh well, it wasn't like he was trying to impress anybody or some other stupid shit like that…though he did wonder why everybody seemed to dislike him. He didn't even know most of these people for crying out loud and yet here they are acting like he was the bane of their existence. Fuck them, said one of the little voices in his head, though this voice was oddly lower than the others…just get your information, eat and go draw the picture.

Well, at least one of the voices seemed to actually agree with him. That was nice for a change.

He entered the restaurant and heard two distinct voices, both of which he didn't know their owners to very well but at least he knew them and perhaps he could get information from them…? Walking over to the table in the far corner he saw two recognizable figures sitting in the booth next to a closed window. The pair seemed too absorbed in their conversation to realize that he was there standing at the foot of the table. Neither had food or drinks so he assumed that no one had come to pick up their orders so far. Excellent.

"Um…excuse me," his voice was silent and polite and the pair stopped their chit chat to look up at him. Four eyes widened in shock, one pair large and dark brown the others beady but the same shade of darkness.

"What do you want?" The fat one's voice was deep as he seemed to let go of the shock and border on annoyance. No not border, it already was on annoyance. His red hair was long and shaggy, a nice shade of orange red though not nearly as beautiful as the shade of his current obsession's mane.

"I was wondering," Sai was hoping that his submissive voice would get on their good side and they'd let him sit with them. "Do either of you know a Gaara of the Desert?"

Again the eyes widened, this time the fat one's mouth even falling open making the red circles on his cheeks to spread. He looked over at his companion, the thin man's eyebrows had risen in surprise, even his pineapple shaped hairdo seemed to rise in shock. He nodded and spoke up this time, gesturing for Sai to sit which he did with a nod of gratitude. "Yeah, me and Choji know him." Those dark eyes narrowed as they scrutinized the nuisance sitting beside him. "Why? What do you wa-"

The boy was cut off by a light and kind voice spoke up. "My apologies sir for interrupting your talk but are you ready to order?" The trio looked up at the girl whose blond hair was pulled back in a pony tail and hazel eyes polite and gentle. She was in the restaurants clothing, a white knee length skirt and a baby blue blouse, in her hand was a note pad with the pen poised above it ready to jot down their orders.

Choji was the first to break the silence with a nod and said his order of a rather…lengthy variety of beef and water. The other, who Sai finally remembered who is Shikamaru just shook his head and ordered water stating that he'll eat later. Sai thought for a minute, ignoring the look the girl was throwing at him as her gaze landed on him. "A coffee and stir loin please."

She nodded and left, leaving the trio to look back at each other. Shikamaru turned his gaze back onto Sai before asking kind of harshly, "What do you want to know about Gaara?" Choji added in a harsh, "And why?"

Slightly taken aback by their brashness he said truthfully, "Well on the mission to track down Sasuke that myself, Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi had we sort of…ran into him. I-Well honestly I felt a bit left out when they were talking and I was just curious as to who the boy is."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the artist, a threatening look overcoming the bored expression in the dark depths. "There had to be something else to. Naruto was a mess when you guys came back and even the others looked scared. Hell by the way you look you were affected as well. Now what. The. Hell. Do. You know?"

Sai bit back a gurgle of apprehension as he gazed into those protective orbs only slightly curious about his appearance. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to flatten it, only now remembering that he left the house without so much as a wash up. "He didn't look human."

There was a silence after that admission. A long and drawn out silence that was broken by two things. One: the waitress had come back with their drinks telling them that their food shall be brought shortly. Two: Shikamau had covered his eyes with his hand muttering a silent "Shit…Temari…"

Choji looked silently at his lifelong friend, sympathy in his eyes. Shikamaru had been the one who had been consoling the wind mistress every time she came over as an ambassador. The girl was a mess, her eyes were always blood shot as if she'd been crying and her shoulders sagged with invisible weight and she seemed to have lost the passion to even be violent towards others. Shikamaru had always been there with her, muttering how troublesome it was to be helping to heal her wounded heart though Choji knew that his friend was deeply hurt himself.

Sai didn't know who this Temari person was but apparently she was quite close to the shadow user if he was depressed for her. He took a sip of his coffee, mentally sighing as the liquid slid down his throat.

Sighing Choji turned to the artist, a sad look in his eyes as well. "Gaara…well he-I mean when we first met him three years ago he was a little monster. He lived to kill and everyone hated and feared him. Shika even admitted that he didn't like being in the same room as him. You know Lee?" Sai nodded, his mind instantly flashing him with the green spandex wearing youth with horrendously large eyebrows. "Well, Gaara crushed his left arm and leg in the Chunin Exams."

Sai gasped as he place his chin in his folded hands. Gaara was the one who caused the limping? Then why did everyone seemed to at least be tolerable of him? His interest was instantly hit and nailed and he urged the Akimichi to continue.

It was Shikamaru who spoke up though. His face was still in his hand and there was a slight tightness in his voice that made Sai wonder. "Naruto changed him though. Him and Gaara fought during the attack on the village, Gaara had been trying to kill Sasuke and then ended up with Sakura clinging to life in his hand. Naruto stopped him and beat him, confusing Gaara to no end as to how someone could be so strong." He paused and looked up between his fingertips as the waitress arrived with their food.

Placing the meals in front their expected owners she said with a smile, "Enjoy and please let me know if anything goes wrong."

Sai politely dug into his meal, his attention still on Shikamaru and not his yowling stomach. Choji had dug in as well, his face enlarged by the amount of meat the boy stuffed down his throat. Though he too was listening to his friend's tale. "You see, Gaara and Naruto both lived the same life. They each grew up with nothing and no one for comfort they were completely alone and I heard Naruto say once that it was like growing up in a darkness that was worse than Hell itself. Naruto was able to convince Gaara that Sasuke and Sakura had saved him from that darkness and that was why he was so strong. He would die himself before letting the ones close to him suffer.

"Gaara seemed to take that in as his view as well. He tried hard to make up for everything he did to us, and also to create friends. He got a closer bond with his siblings as well as with us but his strongest was with Naruto. Hell, he even became Kazekage so he could protect his village."

Sai nodded, taking in the information and swallowing the mushy mass of meat. "How come they were so close though?"

Shikamaru sighed and muttered troublesome under his breath. He removed his hand and took a large gulp of the cold water, regaining his voice. "They were- are alike in many ways. They can understand each other better than anyone else mostly because of the fact that each held a demon inside them. You know that Naruto holds the Nine Tails and Gaara held the One Tailed."

Choji put his fork and knife down on the table and cleared his throat, catching both brunettes attention. Giving Shikamaru a look that clearly stated, I'll handle it from here he continued on with the story, nodding at Shikamaru's grateful smile. "You see, a group called Ataksuki kidnapped Gaara about five to six months ago. They extracted the One Tailed and Gaara should of died but he didn't. There is a large differenced between him and Naruto that Shikamaru here forget to mention. The Kyuubi was placed in Naruto after he was born so the pair was simply two beings living off each other-no not even that Kyuubi was just there to be both a bother and savior to Naruto. Gaara was still a fetus when the Shukaku was placed in him, so they grew up together and relied on each other…like Siamese twins.

"Gaara didn't die after Shukaku was extracted because he himself is turning into a new demon." Choji went back to stuffing his face, looking around to make sure that no one was listening to their conversation, even though he was speaking quietly enough so even Sai could barely hear him.

The artist took this information in with everything but stride. It made sense of course the whole demon thing and it explained why the red head looked so animalistic. But, there was still one thing bothering him…

"But, how does his mind work? I mean does he have all the emotions that Naruto has or-?"

Shikamaru gave a dry humorless chuckle. "Gaara has more than enough emotion for anyone to borrow. Hell, he has more than Naruto. Well, Naruto may hold more protectiveness than Gaara but with the other emotions he wins hands down." Twitching, Shikamaru led a hand down to his vest's pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and packing one of them out of the box. Placing the stick in his mouth he got out a lighter and had the flame lick the cigarette, taking in a deep inhale of the cancerous nicotine. "Gaara is afraid of a lot of things. He doesn't know what some of the things he's feeling means or how to keep up bonds, and that scares him. Along with the fact that assassins could start coming for him again at a moment. He's very insecure about everything and can never seem to voice his true thoughts."

Sai thought about this. When he thought back on it the boy did seem kind of scared. He wasn't sure if any of the others noticed but Gaara had taken a step back while everyone was just then realizing who it was. And whenever those green orbs landed on Naruto there was a bright shine of fear and desperation in them. In fact even the way his chakra thrummed the way it did looked desperate.

"He's a caring guy when he wants to be but on the other hand can be extremely cruel and even deadly." Yes, Sai believed that as well, with the way the boy had glared at Kakashi with the intent of deadly passion and how fast that strike was… "And he's very depressed. Everyone hated him even when he was nothing but a sweet little boy. His uncle, the man who seemed to be the only one who loved him tried to kill him and told him he hated him. Gaara…is just a very complicated being with a lot of emotional trauma."

Sai nodded and looked down at his empty plate. Everything made sense and he suddenly had the perfect image in his mind as what to draw.

Gaara sneezed as he glared at the darkness around him. His ears went flat as he began to suspect if anyone was talking about him. Probably not, who would speak of a disgrace like him? Sighing he curled up into a little ball as he waited for the sun to go down. Immediately his inner self was walking down the familiar path of darkness that led to Shukaku. Of course, once he walked into the large dome room filled with the sand of a desert there was nothing. Gaara walked into the center of the room and sat down in the soft sand, his green eyes wandering over the large expance of nothing. The ceiling was high, too high up for him to see the top of it and the walls seemed to drag on for acres. There was nothing but sand here, and he was once again sitting within the desert of his mind.

Normally Shukaku would be here, curled up in a large ball with his face pointing towards the door that led to the tunnel Gaara just walked through. The demons usually always slept and were always held within cages when they were held within a human but Shukaku never was. It doesn't matter how strong the seal was the tanuki was always out in the open. Most likely so that when the host started to show serious signs of fatigue or weakness he would immediately be right there to take control over the body.

Gaara's smile was very small and more of a twitch of the mouth when he thought of the tanuki. Whenever Gaara was little Shukaku would always curl up with him to help calm him down as he spoke of that days assassination attempt or when he was sick of being alone and wanted real attention. Hell, the demon would curl up with him even when he turned fifteen. Gaara would always end up being near the demon's jaw with the large tail wrapped around them both. A person would expect the sand demon's skin to be course and rough seeing as how it was nothing but sand but surprisingly it wasn't. On the contrary it was soft like baby skin and Gaara would always be curled up by it, his body leaning into the much larger body.

The demon would listen to Gaara's desperate cries of pain and whenever the boy seemed to not want to speak of his current plight Shukaku would urge him on with a nudge of one of his large fingers. His voice was soft and melodic despite his drunken slurs when he comforted Gaara after. When Gaara was six and Yashamaru had told him the truth Shukaku made the first move to lull the boy to sleep.

His voice was deep when he sung and he would on occasion rub his large nose into Gaara's belly, successfully making the tears go away and be replaced with giggles. Everyone was afraid of Shukaku for reasons that Gaara didn't understand. Their fear of the demon is what contributed to their fear of Gaara calling them both monsters and fuels for nightmares. When Gaara was just a very young child he didn't understand how anyone could be afraid of the being who was his sole place for comfort. Shukaku was very parental, and was the father Gaara always wanted but never got. Whenever Gaara learned a new move it wasn't the Kazekage who praised him with love and adoration, it wasn't Yashamaru for he looked happy though disgusted as well it was Shukaku who urged him on and looked as proud as a being could be.

When Gaara got older he began to understand why everyone hated and feared Shukaku. The tanuki was destructive and far more powerful than any of the worthless fools in Suna could ever be which contributed to their fear. But, still. Shukaku never once gave Gaara a reason to fear or hate him, he was always Gaara's sanctuary, his comfort and love shielded him from the humans' hatred. Shukaku was a constant in his life and there longer than he could hope to remember and now…looking at the vast emptiness of sand and air that sourse of comfort was now gone. Forever.

Gaara shrunk in on himself both physically and mentally. No matter how alone human wise he was Shukaku was always there for him. Now he wasn't and tears flew fast from Gaara's eyes. There was no one to talk to anymore, no one to comfort him, not even Naruto could make up for the emptiness inside him now. He was turning into a monster and he didn't have anyone to turn to, he couldn't talk to Naruto about it because the blond wasn't there and even he would have no idea as to what to do about it. None of his friends would understand, even is siblings' wouldn't and the sole being who would ever understand him was gone.

Sobs raked through his body and he forced himself out of his mind, only now realizing that the tears weren't just thought but real and they were sliding down his face fast making his eyes burn. His shoulders shook, his body trembled with every hastily drawn in gasp and he stumbled out of the barrier, his chakra flaring like a super nova now that he was free of the confines and his emotions were finally starting to take over.

Running from the cave he threw himself down the mountain, ignoring the darkness and cresent moon. His claws were extracted, keeping his grip as he ran down the steep rock and finally landed roughly on the ground. Dust paraded into the air on his impact and he practically flew to the small lake he has grown accustomed with.

Cautiously the boy looked into the water at his barely visible ears and the strange new markings on his face. The salty tears spreading down his face were mingling with the flowing blood from the scar on his brow that just wouldn't seem to heal. His eyes were swimming in the tears, a bright glow of pure sadness and rage. Kneeling on the water's edge with his right leg folded beneath him and his left bent in front of him he began to slowly pull up the pants. As the cuffs were being dragged upwards, more and more red and black fur was beginning to show itself, the colors were mixing in with each other and there were some random areas in both colors that were darker in shade, creating the image of spots.

Closing his eyes and clenching his teeth he recovered the limb. More and more he was turning into a monster and day after day his body was changing faster.

His eyes snapped open as his chakra flared and hissed his body singing from the feeling of eyes on him. He perked his ears, swiveling them round and round so they could distinguish any noises. Finally his right one twitched and immediately he twisted on the spot snarling in the direction the breathing was coming from. He could feel the fear coming from the directions of the rock in front of him, directly beneath where his cave was. Distinctly he could feel the power of a strong chakra though it wasn't anywhere near as powerful as his own.

Claws gripped the earth as he moved into a position on his arms and legs, poised for a fight. His eyes zeroed in on the figure that was spying on him as it exited the rocks, knowing he had been found. Silver hair held back in a pony tail, a smile on his face and dark glasses covering his eyes. His hands were in his pockets, a gesture of calmness even though his entire body was shivering.

"Easy now Gaara," the man's voice was light and almost care free most likely trying to sound tempting. "I'm not here to harm you. Perhaps you've forgotten me, my name is Kabuto Yakushi. We met at the Chunin Exams…remember?"

Green eyes widened just the slightest as series of flashbacks ran through his head. Slowly the lines on his face became spotted and Gaara felt as his fangs got remarkably heavier as they turned sharper than they were before. His muscles were tense and ready to lunge at any moment, his chakra flaring in his body and escaping his body in turrets.

The smile grew to a smirk and even though Kabuto could feel the bloodlust radiating off the extremely dangerous form in front of him he kept his voice even. Despite the fear that grew in his gut as the light from the moon glinted off of those razor sharp teeth that were currently snarling at him. "I suppose you do remember me than. You see Lord Orochimaru had sent me to tell you an offer that we think you will find to brilliant to refuse. He would li-"

_"That overstuffed bastard can go to Hell for all I care. And the mere fact that he sent you instead of coming himself seems to be the fact that he knows I'll refuse and doesn't feel like getting himself killed." _

The medic shivered as the deadly rasp flowed into his ears. He knew the risk of coming but he felt sure that he would be able to get out of there alive if push came to shove. "Now, now Gaara, why don't you listen to the proposition before getting hasty-"

_"I don't need to hear any of his propositions!" _Gaara could feel his emotions running rampant inside him, and he could feel his demon starting to break loose of its chains. Might as well allow it some fun when there's a perfectly good victim right here no? _"And I have no desire to be in your presence any longer." _

Kabuto's eyes widened when he let the words register in his mind and also when the boy disappeared. There was nothing in the boy's place, just softly blowing grass. Taking his hands from his pockets he was about to trigger his second state when there was a loud yowl behind him, causing his hair to rise and his heart to pump and his body to swivel about. Only to be met with inch long claws slashing across his face.

He screamed in pain as blood flew from the incisions and his hands covered the new wounds instinctively, leaving the rest of his body open for an attack.

Kabuto didn't know what hit him. All he knew was that there was the sharp pain in his head from the four angry slashes which profusely bled and of course the _teeth. _A scream tore itself from his throat as he felt incredibly sharp fangs sunk into the sensitive flesh, the fangs were sinking deeper and deeper and the medic could actually feel as they clamped and the top and bottom jaw actually met within his flesh.

Gaara growled and mewled in his throat as he felt the blood pulsing in his mouth. _So fucking goooodddd, _the blood was metallic and so deliciously raw that his eyes rolled back and he sent his right hand through his victims stomach, listening to the delicious screams and howls of pain from Yakushi. The body below him fell backward, making Gaara tear his mouth from the body's neck, taking the lump of flesh and muscle along with him. Yakushi wasn't even screaming anymore, blood frothed from his mouth and bubbled at the corners of his lips and tendons and long lines of dripping blood still connected the large gulp of skin in Gaara's mouth to the rapidly dying body.

Throwing his head back and unconsciously driving his hand further into the gut of his victim he swallowed. The meat slipped down his throat the delicious blood helping the not chewed flesh slide down his throat. _More. _Blood was dripping down his chin but he didn't care instead he brought his head down and tore off some more flesh with his teeth. He could feel something under his hand give and break but he didn't care, he felt something in his hand and pulled, watching as the slippery rope of some sort of organ was coming out with his hand.

As Gaara continued to gorge himself on the dead shinobi he could only imagine that Yakushi was currently cursing his master in the afterlife.

WOOH CHAPTER 8 IS DONE. I ALMOST CRIED WHILE I WAS WRITING THIS. ANYWAY MIKA SAN I UPDATED SO NO HATE MAIL PLEASE…PLEASE.

I LIKED RAMPAGING GAARA EVEN THOUGH FOR SOME REASON I SEEM TO BE HOLDING BACK WITH ALL THE BLOOD AND GORE AND DEATH…WHICH IS VERY STRANGE FOR ME. OH WELL.

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW IT WILL MAKE ME HAPPY AND IT WILL MAKE GAARA HAPPY.

**OH I ALMOST FORGOT. IF THERE ARE ANY SCENES OR IDEAS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE FOR LATER CHAPTERS PLEASE LET ME KNOW BECAUSE I'M KINDA STUCK AFTER THIS ONE. IF YOU ****DO THAT OR IF ANYONE JUST REVIEWS WITHOUT IDEAS I WILL BE KIND ENOUGH TO DRAW THE PICTURE THAT SAI DOES AND POST IT AS WELL. **

Ja ne


	9. Chapter 9

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Pairings: narugaa shikatem and whoever else you guys want me to pair up

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

Chapter 9

There was a long drawn out sigh before a cool and slippery voice said quietly, "Kabuto has been gone for quite some time hasn't he." The remark wasn't even a question, for the man already knew that his loyal medic had yet to come back from his mission with good or bad news that he had sent him on a good ten hours ago. He smirked; his slit golden eyes outlined in purple eyeliner flickered from place to place in the rain forest that they currently resided in, not bothering to keep his attention on a single thing.

Black eyes stared emotionlessly at the distant sky to the east, gazing through the thick canopy of vines and branches and leaves at the dark sky that was rapidly beginning to change colors. The sun was rising, chasing away the moon and scaring the darkness away with its overbearing light, causing the sky to turn pink and orange as its tendrils slowly crawled across the empty area that humans' would never be able to control. Just like Naruto, whose happy go lucky spirit used to make even his self pitying attitude flee, the blond could always be compared to the golden sun, a spirit of joy, life and hope. He however, was a black hole, his being centered solely on the death of one person and his own personality could suck the happiness from even the happiest of people.

"I suppose he has."

The pair was sitting against a pair of trees, a small fire flickering in front of them sending the flames shadows dancing across their faces. Trees were scattered all around them, making it difficult to see five meters into the distance. Darkness had enveloped the forest making the once gorgeous landscape eerie and foreboding. The only sounds were those of nocturnal animals and even they were beginning to fade and die away as instincts told them to rest and sleep.

They were miles away from where the last battle was shed, where Sasuke's old team had nearly lost their lives. The Uchiha hadn't protested when Orochimaru had suggested they put up traps for the group that had somehow found out their location. He didn't object even though what he really wanted to do was go in there and kick their puny asses himself. He hated the idea of hiding when he was perfectly capable of dealing with nuisances, he wanted to prove his strength to see if he was strong enough to kill the one man that he wanted to get rid of so desperately. His mentor seemed to have other plans though, the setting up of the trap was enough for Sasuke to know that the sannin had something else planned and it pissed him off because he didn't know what it was.

He had no fucking idea what they were doing there, no idea as to why Orochimaru suddenly wanted them to stay hidden from his old group when a few months ago the snake master had stated himself that he was curious to see how Sasuke stood against a jinchurriki. Naruto was the perfect jinchurriki, the vessel of the nine tails and seeing as how about four years had passed since he had seen the blond sprout the first tail he knew that the fox had allowed more of its chakra to be used. Oh well, the man obviously had something in mind and he would have to tell him eventually. Maybe if they go searching for Kabuto…

"Should we go looking for him?" The prodigy didn't even bother with putting the false concern in his voice; neither of them really cared. Kabuto was just a pretty valuable asset with good medical ninjutsu after all.

Orochimaru hummed for a second, closing his eyes as a soft breeze fluttered his long black hair and the large bow on his back. "I suppose." Those two words were the signal for the pair to stand and Sasuke kicked a pile of dirt at the fire, the flames flickering and dieing. Orochimaru led the way, walking west towards the towering rocks that displayed themselves through the small opening in the canopy. He glanced out of the corner of his eyes towards the place where the fight had taken place he knew the group had survived and that the desert child had rescued the group. It seemed that his plan hadn't gone as he had hoped. Oh well, perhaps Kabuto got better results.

The two walked on in silence, not bothering to glance at the animals that halted as they noticed their procession. Behind them the pink and orange lights were spreading farther, the very edge of the eastern sky starting to turn into a baby blue. Half an hour past before the pair finally reached the edge of the forest to meet a sea of foot tall grass and a large glittering lake only a few meters up ahead. The mountain was about a hundred to two hundred meters on the other side of the lake, its cliff side huge. Rocks stood rigid at the bottom, flowing upwards into thick spikes that promised death if someone was to fall directly onto their peaks. The mountains themselves seemed to touch the sky and were dark and sharp, not round like the ones in Konoha, these ones would look nice with a series of thunder clouds over them crackling lightening.

Just like the stories parents tell their children Sasuke mused to himself the range seemed to stretch on for miles, covered in different heighted peaks and the air of an old dangerous castle.

The water was calm when they finally reached it, its surface bleak and as dark as the midnight sky. Not so much as a ripple bothered it and it seemed to surreal to be true. So calm and carefree that it was frightening. The world wasn't like that, not one thing on this planet was as calm and peaceful as this and if there was a place it only meant that something bad was going to happen soon.

Orochimaru drew in a sharp breath as he suddenly ran across the water's glassy face, making waves churn and the serenity to turn to chaos. Drawing his attention from the water Sasuke followed the raven, curious as to what could cause such a strange reaction from the usually stoic killer.

But then he saw it, and even his mind went reeling.

Quickening their pace to a fast jog they found themselves directly in front of where the spiky projectiles of rock shot up towards the sky. A large puddle of blood lay at their feet, the crimson liquid glittering and shiny. A trail of it led to the mountain and whatever the victim was it seemed to have been dragged out of the open and towards the mountain. The blood was fresh, its reek still strong in the air and gold locked with black with understanding and euphoria. Kabuto was certainly not going to be joining them anymore.

Sasuke looked in confusion at the tracks beside the trail of blood against the blades of the grass. Red stains spread out into what seemed to be an animal's paw print was walking alongside whatever had been dragged and obviously the animal had been the one dragging the carcass. The two followed the trail noting how the creature's tracks were separated by a foot like a human's until they were zigzagging through the maze of the deadly spears.

They walked through the darkened paths until they came to the base of the mountain, where it looked like whatever the predator was had decided to use its hands to help haul the body up.

Orochimaru smiled, not noticing his intended vessel's perturbed look. It looks like Gaara has started to transform, his feet taking most of it though for the hands still seemed very human. Using their chakra they walked up the rock's surprisingly smooth side until they reached a cliff about thirty feet above the ground where the spikes still spread onwards.

The white skinned man's head tilted to the side as an eyebrow rose in a somewhat comical fashion. Sasuke had to take in a deep breath and look away, wondering to himself what it was Orochimaru found so humorous about the scene. Collecting his wayward emotions of disgust and fear and sadness he looked back at Kabuto's corpse.

The medic's throat had been torn to pieces, half of it clearly missing leaving a gaping pile of disgusting gore. Pink muscle winked at them as they still gushed out horrendous amounts of blood and fucking hell it smelled. Blood was running down the deathly pale skin on his head, his blue lips covered in crimson, teeth stained red. His glasses had been knocked askew showcasing the wide eyed and terrified stare, dark pupils and iris showing nothing but death and vessels in the eyes popped, making the whole white nothing but a shining red. Crimson tears had obviously slid down the man's face during the kill.

A gaping hole was in his skull, starting from the middle of his forehead and ending just past the hair line. Teeth marks grazed the skin, bone that was originally white dripping blood as they displayed themselves in the wound. The section of the skull had been completely torn off, showing off the once large brain that just like the throat had a large portion of it missing. His once black hair was now a deep ruby red, the precious liquid rubies painting lines down the ninjas face and temples until a large puddle formed underneath him. His stomach had been ripped to shreds, no doubt by sharp claws. The incisions spread from the hole where his belly button once was, reaching his torso and naval, spreading down his ribs. Organs had been strewn across the body as if whatever had killed him decided to play with the insides instead of eating them.

Well, Orochimaru rolled his shoulders listening to the pop of his shoulder blades Gaara either didn't like the proposition or just didn't appreciate Kabuto being there. Gold eyes slowly trailed upwards following the path of blood that trekked up the mountain side until they disappeared some sixty feet high into what he supposed was the boy's cave. His mouth curved into a smirk as he thought of the possibility of the boy turning into a jaguar.

Oh yes, he had heard all about the exjinchurriki's latest predicament. Yura, Sasori's old puppet from Suna had turned into quite the little diary teller and he had manipulated the man into telling him everything going on about the countries. What a surprise it had been when he heard about the fifth Kazekage turning into a demon after losing the Shukaku. He couldn't resist the possibility of obtaining that raw power all for himself.

Jaguar's always carried their prey somewhere more secluded to feed on and the fact that Gaara dragged Kabuto's dead body about fifty meters was a give-away and so was the bite to the head. There was also the boy's personality to consider. He was a warrior, ruthless and cold and bloodthirsty. Hundreds of years ago there was a group of people (these people did exist I just don't remember what they were called and didn't feel like looking it up) who had abhorred jaguars, calling them the Gods of War. The jaguars were the ultimate warriors and to this particular group there was a certain tradition. The men who had partaken in battle were not warriors simply because they fought in the fight. They had take a slain enemies heart…and feed it to a caged jaguar and only then would they be a true warrior.

Gaara was the most dangerous ninja that resided, or now used to reside, in the sand village. He killed without thought and everyone no matter how much they feared him they still respected him. He found that out when he was doing his research for the destruction of the Leaf, the elders of the Sand had automatically stated that the boy was their trump card and that if anyone would be the perfect warrior for this mission it would be him.

Yes, it makes perfect since for him to be a jaguar. Now all he needs to do is capture that demon and feed him the hearts of those who wronged him.

Gaara yawned, his mouth stretching and blood red tongue lolling and resting against the rows of blood stained fangs. He stretched out his back his arms reaching forward with his backside up in the air as his claws extended from his back paws. He threw his head back and closed his mouth and eyes listening to the delicious popping sound as his vertebrae moved and clicked into their respective places. Pulling his arms back he slid his legs under him and rested his hands in his lap. The blood had tasted so good…a bright red muscle licked his upper lip leaving a trail of red in its wake.

His thirst had been quenched even though the demon wanted to continue the hunt, to forget about meditating within the circle of seals and to go ravage the village not too far away. He ignored the urge, perfectly content to simply rest and regain the composure that had left during the night.

His nose twitched, a familiar and vague scent filtered in through his nostrils, the smell of sweat and trepidation coming from the base of his mountain. His eyes flashed open, the green orbs vibrant and glowing in the light, a hiss was growing in his throat, building into a tight fire of venom. He knew that smell. The Uchiha had smelled the same way when they fought in the Chunnin Exams, when he released Shukaku on the boy.

_What the hell does he want?_

Sai inhaled deeply, breathing in the fresh morning air. After gaining the information on Gaara he had went back to his house but surprisingly he didn't draw the picture. Instead he showered, getting the grease out of his hair and scrubbing his skin raw. The voices were screaming at him, demanding him to forget about the necessities his body required and to just go sit in his desk and draw. He ignored them, deciding to think about what position he should put the boy in and also on how to put in the frightened and ominous emotions, not without getting a massive head ache mind you.

He had even indulged himself to the wondrous world of sleep as well. He must have been blessed for no pictures or dreams assaulted him that night.

It was now seven in the morning and he was walking down one of the paths that led to the park, waving and smiling at the few people who were out. All the while his sketchbook and drawing utensils were resting protected underneath his other arm, clutched to his side. What a beautiful day to draw wasn't it? The sky was clear, the sun bright but not too bright and there was a brilliant breeze was just oh so nice.

Finally he reached the park walking to one of the benches that was across from a sand pit where a small child was currently playing in. It was a young little boy with dirty blond hair that reached the tip of his ears. Immediately Sai was captivated, his eyes narrowed and his lips parted as he noted the boy's position. His eyes were downcast, hiding their color from him. The child had tanned skin, a few freckles running across the bridge of his nose and going beneath his plump lower lip. His legs were curved to either side of him, one pudgy hand swirling in the sand while the other was wrapped around his middle. A tiny smile was on the boy's round face, his feet bare showing the tiny toes curling in joy?-Or sadness? His clothes were old and dirty, matted with mud and stains.

Without realizing he was doing it Sai's fingers were flying across the sheet laid before him on his lap. His lips pursed together as he glared at the growing picture glancing up on occasion to look at the child in front of him. The boy being drawn was kneeling on the ground, his body turned to the right, facing the burning bodies of idiotic people. The face was towards himself though, eyes narrowed in anger as they glared with insanity out of the paper and straight into the artists eyes. Again, without his notice the boy had left, but thankfully he had already got the idea of the body's position.

Furry ears were pressed back, the spiky mane flattening from the appendages pressure. A kanji was bleeding on the drawing's forehead, the love character a dark contrast with the white skin –even though the drawing itself was black and white. Lips were skinned back, sharp teeth clenching together in an animalistic snarl, sharp lines falling from the drawings eyes slowly morphing into spots as they spread down the boy's face. His hand was pressed tightly against the ground, sharp claws leaving gauges into the soft earth, the long cloth spread out around it. The other hand was clenched in the fabric of the beings shirt, just in front of where the beating heart lay beneath the layer of protective yet fragile skin.

He was about to start with the drawings feet when there was a loud growl behind him –thankfully a human growl. Sai froze, his pencil hovering over the white paper itching to get back to work but the shadow suddenly looming over him was quite ominous. By the size of the shadow he had guessed that there were two people behind him.

Gulping the artist turned his head, his eyes widening when he came face to face with two scary looking Sand ninja.

One of them was a man dressed in a black jump-suit purple lines were painted on his face, outlining the beady dark eyes. Three scrolls were strapped to his back and one of his gloved hands was clenched against his side. A black hood was on his head, the cat ears making him raise his eyebrows in confusion.

The other was a woman with blond hair separated in four pony tails on the back of her head. A large metallic fan was strapped to her back held there by the red sash at her waist. A long black dress covered her from shoulder to ankle, leaving a sash down the side of her right leg, going up to her knee. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and her green eyes were narrowed in a dangerous fashion. He felt a sudden flash of recognition of this woman and his eyes flashed to the fan. Yes, she was the one who assaulted him for telling the truth about the size of her chest.

"Yes, may I help you?" he might as well be polite; he didn't want to wake up muddy and soaked like he did last time.

The man spoke up, his voice low and threatening. "Why did you draw that? How do you know Gaara?"

Sai tilted his head, his brows lowering as he answered truthfully, "I saw him on my last mission with Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto. He…intrigued me." How did these two know of Gaara?

The pair looked at each other, wide eyed before running off and disappearing with incredible speed that ninja are accustomed to. Furrowing his brows into a v he shook his head and turned his attention back to his drawing.

What strange people.

WELL THERES CHAPTER 9. THE PICTURE THAT I PROMISED YOU GUYS IS GOING TO TAKE A WHILE, I'M NOT THAT GOOD OF AN ARTIST WHEN IT COMES TO PEOPLE AND I'M NOT SURE AS WHERE TO POST IT WHEN I ACTUALLY FINISH IT.

THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED

**YOU KNOW…I THINK I'M GOING TO BE A BITCH TODAY AND NOT ****SO IF YOU GUYS WANT ME TO UPDATE THIS YOU BETTER REVIEW BECAUSE I'M NOT GOING TO UPDATE UNTIL MY REVIEWS HIT 35. I KNOW I'M HORRIBLE BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TIRED OF SEEING HOW MANY PEOPLE READ THIS THING BUT YET ONLY A FEW REVIEW**

I'M SORRY ABOUT THE SHORTNESS OF THE CHAPTER, THE NEXT SHOULD BE LONGER

OH AND IF ANY OF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN AVATAR I'M GOING TO BE COMING UP FOR A STORY FOR IT CALLED 'THE DRAGON'S FLAME' SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IT SHOULD BE UP WITHIN THE WEEK.

PLEASE REVIEW AND REMEMBER **I WANT A TOTAL OF 35 OR MORE**

Ja ne


	10. Chapter 10

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

Chapter 10

"NARUTTTTTOOOOO!"

Said blue eyed blond jumped about a foot in the air at the loud and rather angry sounding voice that just shouted his name. The black straps of his forehead protector whiplashed through the air as he turned his head towards the sound: fearing that the voice belonged to Sakura while also noticing how the villagers who were outside at the moment seemed to dart and run away. Breathing heavily with an anime sweat drop and down-right terrified look plastered on his face he recognized the owner or perhaps owners of said angry voice.

Temari and Kankuro were running towards him –very quickly might he add- but in his mind they couldn't be moving any slower. Both seemed to be moving in slow motion, their faces twisted in mixed emotions of anger and desperation, their eyes wide and nostrils flared. What on earth could have done this to these two of all people?!

But, than again…they never really were the 'oh nothing can scare me' type, in fact they were scared of many, many things…mostly their younger brother when he was still insane but they always fight and deal with whatever it is, no matter how scared they are. Whatever is bothering them right now must be major to get that look on their faces.

And seeing as how they seemed to be angry with him didn't mean that he was about to go for a nice and peaceful walk in the park with the sand siblings.

He didn't want to talk to them though. Seeing and talking to the sand ninja only proved in depressing him. Besides, they were going to hurt him, everyone who runs up to him with those kind of looks end up beating his face in.

The two finally caught up, and Naruto hitched up a blond brow, scratching the back of his head with his right hand in a subconscious display of discomfort. "Hey guys…what's up?"

The siblings' lips were trembling as they glared slash teary eyed looked at the Kyuubi holder. The villagers seemed to have gone, the expressions on the foreigners faces frightening them almost as much as Tsunade herself…it didn't help that the two had quite the ominous reputations either….

Finally the eldest sibling got a hold of herself and the teary eyes disappeared to turn into a full out glare. "You saw Gaara, didn't you Naruto?" she said in a voice that dared him to lie. In that voice promised pain upon more and more and more _pain _if he were to lie about something like that.

Hell, the question wasn't even a question! The younger blond scowled as he crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes, why bother asking something if you're just going to make it sound like you already know the answer! He hated that about some people, if you know he did something already than just accuse him damn it, instead of making a big scene in the middle of the village!

Sighing and attempting to push back unwanted feelings he nodded at the same time muttering quietly, "Yeah I saw him. Me, Kakashi sensei, Sakura and Sai…we all ran into him on our last mission when we tried to scout out Sasuke." On the inside Naruto was sulking, his knees drawn to his chest as tears slid down his face. Why do they have to do this now? All I want is some ramen…

The puppet masters glare dissipated as he looked at his sister for a moment before looking at the ground, even himself getting a bit disturbed by the dangerous aura emanating from her.

Temari stood, fists shaking teeth clenched and her eyes burning. She stood up to her full height as she attempted to loom over the boy who was exactly her size…height wise of course. It would be appropriate if steam started to flare from her ears and nose but unfortunately –or perhaps it is fortunate- that never seems to happen.

"AND WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!?!?! YOU KNOW WHERE OUR LITTLE BROTHER IS AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN CONTACT US!!!! YOU BASTARD!!!"

Even Kankuro had to back away from her on that one.

Both boys were standing about five yards away from the enraged wind mistress, each with their arms held in front of their faces and chests in an instinctive protective manner. Naruto's face had turned a beet red, sweat beading down his head in rivers, his eyes wide and white and his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Good Kami this woman is worse than Sakura! And she hasn't even hit him yet!

The blond gulped and stuttered in a suddenly very weak voice, "I-I just n-never t-thought about it. G-gomen…" Naruto tightly closed his eyes waiting to be hit for the honest answer. Than a thought passed through his mind which made him reopen his eyes and look across at the fuming kunoichi.

How did they know he saw Gaara again?

Being the idiot that he is he never even realized that he spoke the question aloud until Kankuro answered him. "Your new team mate, I'm guessing that the guys name is Sai, was drawing a picture of him…a very warped picture of him but him no less." The brunette was facing the jinchurriki but his eyes were glued warily on his furious sister, trying to find the right timing to stop her attack if –no- when she got out of her docile stage.

Eh? Naruto had a sudden urge to run over to Sai –wherever he is- and kick the crap out of him. The bastard was getting him into a hell of a lot of shit with his friend's older siblings and frankly the two, mostly Temari, was scaring him shitless. Of course he'd only kill the artist after he had seen the drawing.

"So, Naruto," Temari's voice brought the blond back from his musings and he shuddered at the tone of her voice. It was like grandma Tsunade and Sakura put together. "Are you going to tell us where our little brother is or has that completely evaded your mind as well?"

Kankuro glared at him too, now that he had reminder as to why they had searched for the boy in the first place. Each demanding the information on their little brother with their arms crossed and eyes hard and cold their mouths held in firm lines while fingers twitched with the effort as to not pull out their weapons and pummel the kitsune. The scene was actually quite frightening.

Naruto opened his mouth to blurt out the red head's location and he suddenly was bombarded with a wave of emotions. Frustration, disbelief and some others that he wasn't even sure about filled his entire body and he stood up straight, crossing his arms as well. Gaara didn't want to be found, that much was obvious if he wanted his siblings to know where he was then he would have told them before he ran off. They should understand that. Thinking about the red head made him remember the promise he gave him and he opened his mouth to answer before Temari could take a step forward, her intent most likely to wrap her hands around his throat and throttle him.

"I can't tell you where he is," he ignored their angry spluttering and continued on as their faces turned to bright shades of furious red, "but he wanted me to tell you guys that he missed you."

They both calmed a little after that remark, as if they were happy that Gaara had considered them in his thoughts during his disappearance but seconds after they turned furious once again. How dare this little blond hyperactive and most unpredictable idiot presume to think that they had no right to know where their baby brother was?! Sure he hadn't said that they had no right to know but by saying 'I can't tell you where he is' it is pretty much the equivalent of them not having the right or privledge!

Kankuro marched forward and fisted the demon vessels jacket in his hands, dragging the blond up close so they were practically nose to nose. Naruto could actually smell the faint scent of meat on the older boys breath, could see every crooked white tooth as he snarled at him, could see the lines underneath the purple warrior paint and could practically see within those beady dark eyes the fiery abyss of Hell itself. He gulped and smiled nervously in response, idly remembering what Sai had said some time ago about fake smiles being used in difficult situations to help lighten the mood.

Too bad it didn't seem to be helping the mood. Kankuro seemed as pissed off as ever and Temari's dangerous energy was wafting over the brunettes shoulder and tackling the blond in a body slam wrestler style. Was there a slight change in the wind pattern just then?

"You. Are. Going. To. Tell. Us. Where. He. Is." Kankuro bit each word off with a venomous hiss, his glinting poison as the words were whispered maliciously through his clenched teeth. "NOW NARUTO!"

Naruto bit back a startled yelp as he laughed silently and pathetically. He really hated to do this…. "Maybe, if you let go and give me some more space I would teme!" Yes, he was being an idiot for calling the potentially homicidal ninja a jerk and snapping in his face like an excited puppy but whoever said that Naruto was smart?

Kankuro blinked, as if only then noting how close he held the ninja and what a tight grip he had on him. Coming out of his homicidal mode for a moment he loosened his fingers from the fabric enough for Naruto to break free. "Well?"

Straightening out his jacket, squinting at the still fuming siblings and then looking up at the now cloudy sky Naruto sighed and put on a face that was very similar to that of a face of someone trying to remember something. Closing his eyes and lowering his face from the sky he sighed again before allowing the corner of his mouth to lift in a smirk before taking a deep breath. A second later he was gone, leaving nothing but two very shocked sand ninja and a cloud of dust in his wake.

The two seemed to jump from their stupor soon enough for Naruto heard two roars of absolute rage as he sprinted towards Hokage tower. While running and apologizing to random passerby that he accidentally bumped into in his run he thought, sorry guys, but no way in hell am I going to betray Gaara's confidence like that.

Naruto crashed into the door not even bothering to say anything to the secretary at the front desk and instead decided to barge right up the spiral staircase, two mad siblings hot on his heels, starving for a lot of Uzumaki slash Kyuubi blood. Doors slammed closed as people attempted to get out of the way of the raving trio's path and Naruto turned, went up another flight of stairs, turned again than made another turn and ran straight down the hallway. Tsunade's door was right there….!!!!

"It's about time you turned this mission report in Kakashi."

The jounin smiled and closed his one visible eye in mock humor as he ran a hand through his silver, gravity defying hair. The Hokage's brown eyed stare was deeply disconcerting and honestly the copy cat ninja just wanted to run away and read his precious "Icha Icha Make Out Tactics". He had stayed up all night working on the report, having forgot about it the first day they made it back from the mission and at the moment he was having serious withdrawal symptoms from not reading the precious porn for seven days. The first four days were spent on the mission and coming back from said mission, and the last three days were spent with himself locked away in his house staring at the wall seeing and feeling nothing but Gaara's sharp claws raking across his temple to withdraw a piece of wadded up paper. His skin had turned pale thanks to the withdrawal symptoms, his appetite almost disappearing, or at least his normal appetite, now all he wanted to eat was very, _very _spicy foods which didn't agree at all with his stomach.

Oh how he wanted to read Icha Icha….

"Sorry about that Lady Hokage, the report just -!" Kakashi was cut off by the loud crash of a door banging harshly against a wall, the barrier bouncing back to return the punch to whoever had barged in. The ramparts shook from the impact the wood had made and there was a yellow and orange blur streaking across the room to hide behind Tsunade's chair.

Tsunade and Kakashi blinked before the woman turned, furious on the cowering blond getting ready to shout out words that could kill before the door blasted open yet again and this time wood actually splintered off the poor appendage. Snarling like a rapid beast now she whipped around to face the equally furious faces of Temari and Kankuro. Said faces rapidly loosing their hostility to gain one of frightened and shocked.

The older two in the room glanced at each other curiously, Tsunade looking more furious than curious though. Slapping one hand on the desk she growled out, "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" The foreigners seemed to deflate, their postures almost physically getting smaller and weaker as perspiration ran rapidly down their necks and a soft terrified whimper came from behind her chair. "AND GET OUT FROM BEHIND MY CHAIR BRAT!!"

Naruto whined before scurrying out from behind her so called protective self and running over to his former sensei's side, his blue eyes glancing fearfully from the raving Hokage to the siblings. "YOU ALL DO REALIZE THAT MY DOOR IS NOW BROKEN -" they all turned to look at the door which was now hanging awkwardly on one hinge before turning back to her. "NOT ONLY THAT BUT YOU THREE JUST INTERUPTED A MEETING THAT I WAS HAVING WITH HATAKE OVER HERE! YOU HAD BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXUSE FOR THIS BECAUSE I AM CLEARLY NOT IN A GOOD MOOD!"

That's for sure, the woman was shouting so loud their ear drums were shattering and spit was flying out of her mouth in all directions. Just to make matters worse black bags were under her eyes indicating that the woman had very little amount of sleep the night before and when Tsunade doesn't get enough sleep everyone else pays the price. She had her fist placed on her desk, the wooden frame crying from the amount of pressure she was placing on it, veins clearly visible against the pale skin of the back of her hand.

Temari was the one who took a brave step forward, being a woman of similar temperament she was the one least scared. "Please forgive us Lady Hokage…you see, Kankuro and I were following Naruto –not that I mean to place all the blame on him or anything, the two of us are equally responsible. He had been with-holding information about Gaara's whereabouts so naturally we reacted in a negative way…."

The older blond inhaled deeply before dropping heavily into her seat. She removed her fist from the desk which gave a happy and relieved heave before covering her eyes and rubbing her temples in an attempt to ward off the coming head ache. "I can understand why you two would be angry about that, after all Gaara is your little brother so of course you're going to react in a naturally protective and violent way." She lowered her hand to show hard brown eyes and a disappointed frown. "However, I am deeply disappointed in you two, Naruto I can expect something like this from, but you two, now that is just very surprising. Especially seeing as how thanks to Hatake's report I was able to send a message over to Suna about the Fifth Kazekage's whereabouts."

Temari and Kankuro immediately brightened, happy to know that his location had been found while Naruto looked shocked and on the verge of angry. If Gaara didn't want people to know where he was then he would have told them all damn it. Kakashi on the other hand seemed to look rather flustered, receiving both looks of gratitude from the suna siblings and one of disbelief from his old pupil, oh why did the old hag have to involve him in this little quarrel?

The somewhat happy atmosphere of the room immediately dimmed to something ominous because of the menacing smile lurking on Tsunade's face and the dangerous glint in her flashing eyes. Her voice was now very perky… "Yet, there is still the matter of your punishment…."

Half a day later…

Baki sighed as he sat in the cushioned chair in front of his desk. His hand was cramping after three hours straight of signing paperwork after paperwork and his head ached and thudded from having to read so much paperwork. Putting the last document away he placed his elbow on the desk to support his cheek with his palm so he could gaze out the circular window on his right.

The wind was blowing very gently today, like it has for the past month, carrying only the slightest amounts of sand. The village was doing well, Kankuro and Temari continued to be the sand's ambassadors while he sent different teams on different scaled missions depending on their ranks. Though quite a few of the genin squads kept throwing silent tantrums behind his back whenever he gave them pointless D and C ranking missions. What can a Kage expect though? Most teams always thought that they were stronger than what they really were, making them act more cocky so they could impress more girls or boys when they got B and A ranks but once they got on the actual mission or their leader explained what exactly they would be going through they chickened out.

It was kind of amusing actually, especially seeing as how the latest team he sent out was once under Kankuro's guidance and now be lead by Suzuki, the new jounin. Two overly cocky boys and one overly cocky girl, whined on and on until he snapped and gave them an A ranking mission to protect one of their elders to another country. Than when they came back they began crying about the abuse he was trying to put them through, as if he was trying to get them all killed and that the Fifth Kazekage would never have done such a thing.

Baki's brows furrowed as moved so he was leaning back against the chair, giving him a better view of the training grounds where trainees were practicing under Kabiki's watch.

The village's status had stayed the same, no less crimes' committed and no more than the usual since Gaara's disappearance. Many of the older villagers really cared about his unexpected leaving, though it was the children who were suffering. Trainees, genins and chunins were all devastated when the elders and himself had said that the Fifth Kazekage had left. They were disappointed, confused, angry and sad, the younger ones asking frequently, when is he going to come back? I miss the Kazekage. I want Gaara to come back.

The kids trained harder more intensely as if thinking that if they improved Gaara would come back. It wouldn't happen, though he sometimes wished it would happen too. He hated to admit it, for it made him feel very childish, but he missed the red head as well, only wishing that the demon factor wasn't happening and this whole mess was just one messed up nightmare.

He was brought out of his thoughts when a knock sounded at the door. At his word the door opened, letting in a young kunoichi who he honestly didn't remember the name to. She was fairly new as a secretary, her brown hair landing neatly on her shoulders and framing her round face. She had large chocolate brown eyes and word the traditional dark clothing and shoulder pads of the suna shinobi.

If she didn't wear the traditional clothing she would look very much like Matsuri.

The girl bowed and held out a scroll, saying quickly, "This is from Konoha sir."

He thanked her and took the scroll, having her stay in case he needed to send a response. As he read over the sloppy scrawl that was obviously Tsunade's his eyes widened to unbelievable sizes and his mouth opened. Putting the scroll down as if it were a baby he looked up at the girl who stood there awkwardly, and she stared back, starting to fidget under his strange and bemused stare.

"Uh, sir? Is everything all right?"

Snapping out of his reverie he sat up straight and slapped his hands palms down on the desk his voice hard with authority. "I want two squads here now, ANBU preferably, this is an S class mission."

OOHHH WHAT'S THE MISSION? WHAT'S THE MISSION? YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT TO FIND OUT.

ANYWAY THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS AND I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT UPDATING RIGHT WHEN I GOT 35 BUT HONESTLY I DIDN'T HAVE AN EXACT IDEA AS WHAT TO PUT AND PLUS I HAVE ABOUT 2 PROJECTS DUE FOR SCHOOL THAT I HAVE TO WORK ON.

I'M SORRY IF YOU GUYS WANTED IT TO STAY AS ROMANTIC NARUGAA BUT I CAN'T WRITE ROMANCE FOR THE LIFE OF ME OR FRIENDS OR ANYONE ELSE, SO IT WILL BE SWITCHED TO ACTION, THOUGH DON'T WORRY THERE MIGHT BE LITTLE FLUFF SCENES BETWEEN THEM BUT I'M NOT SURE.

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE WITH ME AND ALSO FOR THE REVIEWS.

**OH, DO ANY OF YOU KNOW WHERE SOMEONE CAN WATCH FREE YU ****YU**** HAKUSHO ON LINE I CAN'T FIND IT ANY WHERE AND I'M HAVING AN OBSESSION WITH HIEI GOING ON.**

**PLEASE REVIEW**

JA NE


	11. Chapter 11

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

Chapter 11

Sai grinned as he exhaled happily and noisily. The day was positively gorgeous, although most of it had passed within what seemed nothing more than an hour while he worked on the drawing. It was now dusk, the sun beginning to set, causing a disarray of beautiful colors to erupt in the sky. Like that morning there wasn't anyone out, the villagers most likely getting ready to go to bed, tucking in their children and dealing with their own needs.

He however, couldn't, his entire body was absolutely buzzing in happiness and success. The drawing was done. After he had sketched the boy he tucked everything away and ran back to his apartment, eager to get to his pastels. Now that it was colored…it was just beautiful with life and emotion.

Oh, this was the sad part. He had finally finished the project that had literally been digging into his life and yet he wanted nothing more than to go and find that creature again. How he wanted to go and just sit and watch that boy in his prime and element, to see the different feelings swiping across that animalistic face and body….

"DAMN IT! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME WOMAN?!"

Sai was rudely thrown out of his musings due to that obnoxious shout that seemed to echo and stretch over the entire village. Shoulders slumping, eyes narrowing and frown appearing, he recognized that voice. Could Naruto be any louder? Really now, yelling and screaming at apparently a woman is just not right, no matter what the hag had done.

"UZUMAKI! YOU CAN'T SAY SHIT LIKE THAT! APOLOGIZE NOW!!"

Aah, so it appeared someone agreed with him. This voice was different though, not belonging to anyone living in Konoha and most definitely familiar. Hmm, wonder who it could be…

"TEMARI LIKE YOU'RE ONE TO TALK! YOU'VE BEEN SCREAMING AND HOLLERING AT THESE GRANDMAS' YOURSELF! I DON'T WANT TO APOLOGIZE!"

Well, now they've done it. Curiosity peaked the artist walked slowly towards the voices, walking by shops while his mind slowly brought up tidbits of his conversation with Shikamaru and Choji just the other day. How the two had just started talking about the girl, the shadow user getting very depressed for some odd reason. Oh and don't forget that blond he met this morning, for some reason the girl seemed very important. He knew he recognized her from somewhere, knew that she was the one who broke his skull in a couple months back but he just couldn't remember her fucking name!

I don't think you should go there.

Sai started at the high pitched voice that he heard but at the same time didn't hear, like the little boy's voice was precisely in his head. He twirled on the spot, searching frantically for anything that might give away a child's hide out.

What he met behind him made him cock his head in silent confusion. It…it was the little boy from before. Blond hair covered in dirt, a head bent slightly so the unruly bangs shadowed his eyes. Freckles ran over the boys nose, barely visible because of the mud coated tanned skin. His clothes were ratty and old, holes and patches all over them and tiny feet bare against the pebbles on the ground. The gravel couldn't actually hurt anyone, the grains were simply more aggravating and overbearing on bare skin than anything else so he didn't exactly worry about that.

Was it the kid who just warned him? And if it was, how could a child, who looked to be about five or six, barely reached three feet tall, manage to talk telepathically?

You'll get hurt again if you go there.

Sai jumped back, his dark eyes wide as he stared incrediously at the child who wouldn't look up. So…it appears that it really was the kid talking to him. Man this is fucking weird…. "And what makes you think I'll get hurt?" Fuck, this was wrong on so many levels, he was talking to a telepathic child who wouldn't look at him, for all he knew the kid wasn't even there, he was just going nuts. It's the only plausible explanation, who else could elaborate completely about a five year old running around like a homeless boy with pschic powers?

Haven't you ever heard of the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'? You're the curious little cat that is about to die because you are about to run into three volatile teenagers, one more so than the others.

The artist blinked. And blinked again.

The child shook his head before vanishing completely, leaving not one trace that he was ever there or where he went. The brat didn't run away, didn't poof away in a column of smoke, didn't explode. Just…vanished.

Yep, he had clearly lost his mind.

And idiotically enough Sai turned around, shook his head to clear the very strange thoughts and continued on his way towards Naruto's voice. He's finally going insane, all those years of being taught as to how to remove and ignore emotions must have finally caught up with him.

As he turned a corner his eyes widened and he realized exactly what was the cause of Naruto's rants. The blond was sitting in the higher branches of an oak tree, his body language screaming out the insecurities of a cat stuck in a tree because of a raving dog at the base of it. The two sand ninja that he had encountered that morning were huddled together in the farther corners of the patio, fear etched on their faces as they hid behind a conveniently placed bench.

He looked up and recognized the building to be a hospital for really old people who can't take care of themselves anymore. And that explained the old lady standing underneath the tree, white hair glowing in the street lights, green kimono covered in folds and quite obviously made in the older years. A cane was being waved around through the air, most likely the woman was threatening the blond idiot for something or other.

"DAMN LADY WILL YOU RELAX?! I MEAN YOU NO HARM TATTEBYO!"

That is where Sai made his fatal mistake. He chuckled, the noise echoing in the suddenly grave yard quietness of the patio. Wide blue eyes turned slowly on him and his team mate's face immediately turned from fear to anger. Eyes burning and hackles raised he jumped out of the tree and in a blink of an eye reappeared in front of the artists face. "YOU REALIZE THAT I'M IN THIS SHIT BECAUSE OF YOU? IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT TEME!!"

Before he could react, a bony, strong and powerful fist connected with his face, blood squirting from his nose and busted lip as the bone in his nose snapped, his body twisting from the force before falling. He was in the world of bleak unconsciousness before he even hit the ground.

Orochimaru grinned, ignoring the sharp and jagged rocks all around him and walking straight into that blanket of makeshift darkness. He had told Sasuke to wait there for him, and to prepare for a fight. He knew that the prodigy was edgy and suspicious but he'll find out soon enough as to why Kabuto was now dead.

Green eyes stared at him, their color the only thing visible in this barrier of black chakra, light and malice flowing through them in the same exact pallor of that of a cat's. He stopped walking and the blanket of chakra around him was thick and tense, the power touching his flesh with the strength of a curious lioness claws.

The sannin's golden eyes shined with mirth, a feral grin breaking across his pale face and the boy seemed to sense an oncoming fight because the chakra flashed and pulsed and flared around him with newly found vigor. Creating a few hand signs fire erupted from around his being, not destroying the chakra but simply pushing it to the side so he could see the rebirthing sand monster.

Gaara was crouched in an incredibly tense position, his muscles bunching over taught skin as equally tense chakra flowed thick out of his body. He stood in the position of a large and wild cat about to pounce, his neck strained as he kept his narrowed black surrounded green eyes on him. Orochimaru knew that no movement would go unseen by this child his eyes were now extremely specific, sort of like Sasuke's sharingan. The boy's lips were skinned back, his sharpening fangs becoming more pronounced as the green orbs began to shine with a beam flowing from within.

"Tsk, tsk," Orochimaru's grin widened until it split his face in half when the demon tensed further. "Come now Gaara, I only wish to have a few words with you, mention my proposition…"

"_Go to hell, I didn't take your proposition from your little lap dog what makes you think I'll take it from you…__Orochimaru__?"_

The snake user shivered with delight as the raspy low voice escaped from those tightly clenched teeth. Such power…. "I was merely going to give you power beyond your most glorious dreams, of course if you do something for me as well."

A growl echoed out of the demon's throat instead of sounding like a dogs threatening rumble it sounded more like a cats dangerous thunder. "_You've already attempted to use me on other occasions __Orochimaru__ and I don't plan on letting it happen again. In fact I think I'll deal with you now, you've pissed me off one too many times."_

"Well, well, someone's feeling rather talkative tonight." The 'immortal' human glanced at the ground, his fingers twitching as they prepared for the onslaught that was most obviously was inevitable to occur. "And what have I done to anger you my friend?"

_"Don't call me your friend you sick fuck! You tried to use me to destroy __Konoha__ three years ago, you tried to manipulate __Kakashi__ into angering me enough to kill them! And even worse you killed my good for nothing father."_

"Alright, I can see where you're coming from with the first two but hey, can you really blame a man for using his surrounding resources?" This next sentence came from the snake user's mouth in genuine confusion. "I thought you despised your father?"

_"I did and still do. __That man was my prey, his life belonged to me and me alone and you should now the consequences for taking away another's prey."_

"Ah, yes now I see. Forgive me for that. But anyway…my new proposition for you is…destroy the leaf village and sand village and I will give you power beyond your wildest dreams."

I'M SORRY FOR THE SHORTNESS OF THIS CHAPTER I REALLY AM, I JUST WANTED TO GET A CHAPTER OUT TO YOU GUYS.

THE NEXT CHAPTER IS GOING TO BE FULL OF NICE OROCHIMARU VS GAARA VS SASUKE! AND I KNOW THE LAST CHAPTER I SAID THAT I WAS GOING TO SAY WHAT BAKI'S ORDER WAS BUT IT WILL DEFINITELY POP UP NEXT CHAPTER.

AGAIN I'M SORRY FOR THE SHORTNESS AND PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW.

**IF ANYONE HERE IS INTERESTED IN YU ****YU**** HAKUSHO WILL YOU PLEASE GO AND READ MY NEWEST FANFICTION 'THE DRAGON'S CRIES NEVER GO UNHEARD' IT IS VERY DARK THOUGH AND IS PRETTY NEW BUT NO ONE ELSE HAS REVIEWED TO IT. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW TO BOTH IF YOU ARE INTERESED IN THAT ANIME AND OF COURSE THIS STORY AND IF YOU GUYS REVIEW AND SAY WHAT YOU WANT TO HAPPEN FOR THIS STORY I'LL MOST DEFINITELY FIND A WAY TO PUT IT IN.**

JA NE


	12. Chapter 12

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

Chapter 12

Sasuke sighed aggravated as he leaned against the cool rock resting against his clothed back. The sky was darkening and the raven haired ninja propped himself only a few feet away from the mangled corpse of Kabuto Yakushi. It's been almost half a day now, since he and Orochimaru had found the medic and the pair had been wandering around, talking to each other. Or more it was Sasuke who was doing all the talking as he asked the snake legend question after question about who had done this to their companion, and why, and for the exact reason that the old man never answered any of his questions.

Which he still never got any answers to unfortunately, which only grated on the pompous Uchiha prodigy's nerves even more. It's to be expected though, Orochimaru never really did explain to him as to what his future and present plans were or what they were supposed to be accomplishing. As annoying as that is he has learned to ignore that.

Just as how he made himself ignore the disgusting stench of the rotting corpse where worthless insects gathered around like sharks to the slaughter of something extremely large in the ocean. He could see glowing eyes across the lakes surface, the golden and orange orbs blinking in and out of sight as if the animals' were contemplating about crossing the rippling water and devouring the tantalizing dead man. The beasts' probably knew something that he didn't, and that must have been why they were hesitating, obsidian eyes flickered above him, following the paw prints of blood scoping the mountain side that his mentor had followed.

The animals' could either since that he, himself was a threat, that Orochimaru was a threat…or whatever it was that massacred Kabuto was a threat.

He snorted and looked away, it was antagonizing for the child who had grown up getting everything he wanted from everyone except his deceased family, and now…this overly cocky snake man was withholding most of the stuff he wanted to find out!

A soft breeze flitted across the clearing, causing tiny waves to form in the water as the wind blew in his direction. Black eyes narrowed and he pushed himself against the hard rocks, watching carefully as the animals' fled, their eyes permanently blinking out as they turned tail and ran. The wind was coming in from the forest, the old and strong trees standing as firm and strong as they were in their prime youth, only the branches and leaves yielded to the ever growing invisible force. A few leaves were wrung from their rightful places on the branches and Sasuke's black bangs flew back, the purple obi in the shape of a twisted bow shook violently as the harsh attack of the air hit them though the boy stood his ground.

This….This was very strange. Even the insects that had been swarming around the body froze and flew off, their wings taking them so fast the Uchiha could barely see them leave. "'I'll be right back Sasuke…stay here and prepare for a fight. I have a feeling that Kabuto's killer isn't going to be very pleased to see me.'"

That is what the elder had said. Sasuke looked up, his body tensing as he began to pair two and two together. This being that Orochimaru was meeting right now…it had chakra whatever it was. The wind shouldn't be blowing in this direction it should have been blowing away from the widening moon, not parallel with it. And worse, there was chakra running through the torrent, making him remember back in the Chunin Exams, where he had been assigned to stop the sand siblings. How, Temari had managed to control the wind with only her chakra and giant fan.

Was it Orochimaru doing this? He clenched his jaw, black eyes rabidly bleeding red as the sharingan took hold and the orbs caught sight and narrowed further as pieces of the mountain slowly began to crumble. Cracks and crevasses were being formed tiny as they were they were still breaking, pebbles slowly dribbling from the wounds like blood from rocks. He watched in amazement as the pebbles tore themselves apart, the small grains crumbling and folding in on themselves as they fell through the air, cracking just as the mountain had done until nothing but purely made sand was born and landed in a small heap on the ledge he was standing on.

The prodigy knelt, looking closely at the grains and gently rubbing his fingers against the smooth, white sediment. Light suddenly enveloped the clearing, casting shadows over the mountain as the moon rose steadily higher until it's entire body was revealed over the grassy nothings. It was large and full, the entire circle looking bigger and brighter than it would normally when it was farther up in the sky and the silver light caused the blood red glow of his sharingan to dwindle down to dark pink. The orb glared and smirked at him, the entire thing literally glowing with power and control as the translucent tresses slithered like serpents over the land, caressing the mountain and a few even getting into the cave where Orochimaru had stalked into.

He stood and glared at the offensive extraterrestrial mass of rock and ice and dust. Something wasn't right, something was terribly, terribly wrong. And where the hell was Orochimaru?!

His lips parted as a loud electrifying _crracckk_sounded in the air, followed by an upsurge of unbelievable amounts of chakra and his eyes flew towards the cave entrance where a figure was suddenly hauled out of the opening. The wind picked up speed and so did the crevasses in the mountain, the wounds bleeding more sanded pebbles as they spread higher and higher and the light of the moon illuminated the figure currently flying through the air.

Long black hair fluttering like madly flapping wings, limbs spread out flailing uselessly as he flew backwards, white skin glowing like Kabuto's own death skin underneath the moon's ruthless gaze. Black sleeves and pant legs underneath a yellowish tan tunic and light purple obi tied neatly into a large bow behind his back flapped as the wind sliced at him. Well, apparently whoever Orochimaru had sought out didn't appreciate the unexpected and unwelcome visit.

As his mentor flew into back until he fell into the lake underneath creating a large explosion of water to erupt into the atmosphere another figure came hurtling out of the cave, an intense bellow of black chakra surrounding its entire being. Sasuke immediately focused his attention on the being, his eyes glued and narrowed to the stranger who was running on all fours like an animal down the mountain until they widened miraculously in both shock and recognition.

Blood red hair, glowing and feral green eyes surrounded by a layer of blackness that only enhanced the emerald glow, the fanged scowl on the beings face, and of course the streams of sand that flowed behind him as he ran, the mountain ripping itself to shreds to create the new born earth. The streams grew and grew into thick rivers as he picked up speed and Sasuke jumped off the mountain and into the air, his black hair shining with rainbows flickering through the black locks as he moved out of the creature's path.

Sabuku no Gaara.

It was impossible to forget that face. The first person besides Itachi to ever install fear into his heart as he sat as motionless and helplessly as a sitting duck as the twelve year old boy ran at him. The right side of him was completely enveloped in impossible amounts of sand, molded and crafted until it formed perfect flexible muscles that could adapt to any lengths it so wanted. Pointed ear, blue calligraphy scratched along the tanned skin of the sand, thin arm enveloped completely, forming into a hand with deadly sharp black tipped claws and a long impossible tail which twitched with strung muscle and porcupine like spikes. The worst factor were the eyes though, the one normal, feral green surrounded by white, the other a burning amber gold surrounded by black. That boy would have killed him if Naruto hadn't appeared right in the nick of time.

No, he could never forget that face.

Red eyes narrowed as he took in the other features of his enemy. Two, small rounded ears nestled neatly in the red mane that crowned his head, the appendages tightly pressed back. Hands that were covered in a very light layer of red and black fur, long fingers curling and tipped with long sharp talons. Feet flexed as they pressed against the rock, the cat toes curling around a bulging rock as the talons dug into the stone and he pushed off, powerful muscles in his lithely built thighs flexing and hardening as he pounced off the fragment of stone. His face was lined with dark splotches, his top corner teeth extending down to touch his lower lip. Black chakra was wrapped around him, twitching and twisting as it exited his body in wave after wave and he dove into the replica of the moon in the water's surface.

He gulped as he floated on the sudden still air current, red eyes glaring into the rippling and splashing water. How? How was this possible?! And what did Orochimaru want with Gaara of all people in the first place?! Sasuke was a logical person with a large brain and a good amount of wit in storage, he knew that Gaara held a demon within his small body, knew that the boy possessed an enormous amount of unusual energy thanks to that demonic possession.

He even knew the demon's name. Shukaku. The one tailed demon tanuki; which from his understanding was the weakest of the nine demons'. Plus, the creature was made purely from sand and the last time Gaara had portrayed this amount of power was when he let the beast out; getting his entire body wrapped up in sand. But this, this he didn't know anything about. The sand ninja's body was not covered in sand and he nor Shukaku possessed such intense black chakra before so how the hell was he…?!

In fact, the way the chakra was moving around the boy he began to think about his own fight with his childhood friend back in the Valley of End. The nine tailed fox's chakra had leaked out of the blond just the way the blackness was coming out of the red head their tempers were very similar as well. Naruto had acted extremely rash and animalistic; seeming to act on instinct alone and Gaara seemed to be behaving the exact same way. But then, the blond transformed, and the red chakra actually covered him in a red cloak that took the outline of a fox, even taking on a mind of its own.

Could Gaara have gotten a new demon?! Was it even possible to be a vessel of two demons at once? If so….If the child really did possess the chakra of both Shukaku and some other demon….he and his mentor were going to have a very difficult time.

Wrapping his mind back to the matter at hand he eyed the trembling water warily, watching as the clear liquid bubbled and sizzled as if the entire lake was put over a giant stove that was set to a boil. The boy was going to transform soon, he seemed even more unstable than when he was when they fought each other.

Fuck waiting. Sasuke concentrated his chakra and allowed the curse mark to roam, taking on his third level.

Layers of sand burst into the air as eight shadows launched themselves off the desert ground, propelling themselves fifty feet forward at a time. They were getting close to the wind countries border, having been on the move for a good seven hours and now the moon was shining down on them. The orb was leering, giving them the feeling of dread and doom, a horrible omen that was gurgling in their guts.

They had to be fast, according to what Lord Baki had said the fifth Kazekage was somewhere in the river country and if they hurried they may be able to catch him. Trap him. And bring him home.

Gaara growled as he and Orochimaru grappled in the cool water, eyes glowing with determination and fury as they attacked each other with barely controlled blows. The snake ninja's eyes were narrowed with fury and excitement as he raised his arm to block the oncoming punch, the sannin being thrown back from the red head's force. The water was gradually growing hotter and more and more chakra leaked from his form, turning the once clear liquid a dark black.

The demon's eyes narrowed as they saw the sannin's hands do a flurry of complicated movements and in an instant a parade of snarling anacondas came bursting out of his outstretched palm, causing green eyes to open wide. The serpents' were all a combination of bright green and dark brown, their eyes a glowing red, giant and lithe body cutting through the water as easy as kunai slashing skin. Their mouths were open in an endless and echoing hiss, rows of tiny sharp teeth gleaming through the dark water, glaring at him from the dark holes they called home in the creatures' gums.

_Don't let him win _Gaara's eyes widened as he heard a voice so much like his own but yet at the same time completely and utterly different. Harsh and raspy with malice and sick humor the voice echoed soundlessly through his mind. _They're just snakes, worthless snakes. Kill them, finish them and then deal with that persistent pest!_

Hackles raised and blood oozing from pierced lips Gaara brought his hands in front of his body, his clawed fingers as spread as they could, the talons growing larger and sharper with each passing second. Power surged throughout his veins and a feeling of completeness and a high oh so much like the time when he first used the Shukaku's power overcame him. His blood pumped and the internal beam within his glowing eyes leered with crazed bloodlust of the worst kind as blackness formed around his hands, twining around his arms.

Curling his fingers he shouted out a mental "_Sabaku__kyuu__!" _the chakra roared from his hands, expanding like a darkness wave as a full blown blast of pure black holes shot out towards the band of river serpents. The animals' eyes widened, their bodies twisting with unimaginable speed as they turned trying to evade the fatal blast but were too late. Their jaws unhinged into a silent scream as the bullet of chakra ripped through their flesh, the second the deadly mass touched them their bodies poofed away in a column of smoke, running back to the world in which they were summoned from.

Yes! Success! Gaara grinned as he stared into the disappearing blackness, trying to see through the bothersome cloud over to the annoying elder. Immediately the grin gave way to a fanged scowl, eyes narrowing and hardening as a growl escaped his mouth; air bubbles slowly making their way to the surface.

Orochimaru wasn't there.

Green eyes searched frantically, his head swiveling as he attempted to spot out at least a glimpse of the raven through the dark and hot water.

A flare of energy and green eyes went wide as he was suddenly shot up out of the air, clutching his aching stomach that the strong fist just made contact with.

Water dripped from his form as he went steadily higher into the sky, making him look as if he himself were dripping away from existence and a second being came hurtling out of the water. The man's white skin was peeling and shredding, displaying even younger and healthier tanned skin beneath, the immortal molting like the animals' he was so loyal to.

"I take it than that you won't take my proposition?"

_How -?! HOW DARE HE?! __"YOU BASTARD!__ I WON'T EVER BETRAY EITHER OF THOSE VILLAGES FOR THE LIKES OF YOU!!" _

Gaara was livid, beyond livid. How could this son of a bitch ever think that he would even think about harming the leaf and sand?! No way in hell would he ever betray his siblings like that…betray Naruto like that. Orochimaru would have to kill him first!

_Thump._

Gaara's eyes closed, ignoring the incoming sannin as if he wasn't a threat.

_Thump._

What was that? Gaara opened his mouth, exhausted pants escaping his parted lips, his muscles all twitched, his ears flexing.

_Thump._

That pulse….The red head paid no mind to the outside world –suddenly, he was no longer fighting Orochimaru…Sasuke was no longer nearby shocked beyond comprehension. He was no longer in the river country, no longer was the mountain there no longer was there a lake or forest.

_Thump._

He knew this place. He was suddenly back inside his mind, back in where the one tailed used to be, where the large and vast desert of his head thrashed in utmost turmoil. The sand was churning, dunes throwing themselves into the air before contracting and imploding all on their own, gusts of wind came crashing throughout the vast desert, picking up tons of sand and whiplashing the grains around with such an uncaring frenzy that anyone could have gotten hurt. Gaara smiled, and no longer did he have round, animal ears, no strange mutations of his body and no dark chakra emanating from his form.

He was himself.

He was home. In the desert of Sabuku no Gaara's mind, the one place that he belonged. Even though Shukaku was now vacant, gone forever he was still home, and was more lonely than he ever was before.

_Thump….Kill them…_

Gaara's brow furrowed as he ran into the center of the raging sandstorm of his mind that proclaimed how he was feeling. This voice, it wasn't his nor was it the demon that he was turning into. It was feminine, light and airy with a sense of authority and hate.

_My son…I want them dead…._

_Thump._

_Thump._

Gaara blinked. Mother? She wanted these people dead, he wasn't doing as he was supposed to do…she wanted the sand village to suffer in his hands because of the torture they put her through. She wanted the death of every civilian in that great city, besides her brother and her two first born. He wasn't doing his job…

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

_He should stop making his mother angry…_

He was thrust back into the present world, with a gasp he opened his eyes and found himself staring head long straight at the glorious moon. There was a dark figure in front of it, a boy with dark long hair and wings shaped in the forms of clawed hands, membranes nothing more than strong fingers. Uchiha…Sasuke…

The boy wasn't his priority right now though. No. the moon, that beautiful shining thing was commanding him, _ordering _him to do as it wanted.

_Kill them all!_

Gaara twisted in the air, somersaulting over the flaming elder who stormed up behind him, the man's velocity thrusting him forward. _Yes…yes mother…_ The white moon was taking form, something was forming in its center, shadows overcoming the milky surface. Chin length hair and hard eyes and firm mouth and a handsome face. _I'll do it…anything for you mother….Just keep watching me. BE PROUD OF ME! _

Then he screamed. His heart was beating faster and faster nearly tearing itself from his aching ribcage. His fingers and toes contracted, flexing and curling and cramping into position as his back bent into a sharp and painful arch. The Uchiha looked shocked, almost frightened and Gaara couldn't blame him, in all aspects he was scared too. His scream was loud and hoarse, shrill and piercing, his eyes straining before clenching closed colors exploding behind the closed lids.

Good Kami it hurt! Chakra was pouring out of his form, the energy oozing out so thickly that the blackness looked and felt like actual liquid than something that wasn't supposed to have a feel. Blood. It coated and drenched and covered him in a slick reminder of when he had once stood under one of his victims when he was a child and crushed him with a memorable sabuku sousou. Dimly, he heard and felt as his mountain exploded into an active volcano of sand, the grains tearing the large landmass to piles of nothing. He clenched his jaws, feral growls being coaxed out of his clenched fangs as his body tore itself to shreds, muscles tearing and regrouping. He could feel it, could feel the chakra covering him in a cloak, could feel as his body broke itself down until it was in a totally new body structure, his bones cracking with audible snaps as his face stretched out, skin going taut.

Something was breaking through the skin on his back, his spinal cord expanding and stretching until it breached his skin. Chakra bubbled up around the growing and splitting appendages, boiling and creating brand new muscle and flesh around the grown out extensions. Than something was covering the appendages, popping out and covering the rest of his skin as well prickling the already agonized flesh.

And then it stopped.

The pain was gone, leaving strength and absolute power in its wake. Gasping and shuddering he looked up and unclenched his jaw to glare at the moon, his vision completely skipping the confounding expression on the usually stoic sound ninja's face.

The moon, his mother was grinning a sly little grin at him and his heart filled with pride. She expected him to finish his job and he was going to do it.

Baring fangs that reached both upper and lower lips, furry ears pressed back against a bristling mane and dangerous chakra flowing like poison through the air.

Gaara snarled, his emerald eyes glaring up and ripping the other two ninja out of their skins.

Four black and solid tails swung behind him.

HAHAHAH! WHOOH I LIKE THIS CHAPTER! YEAH, YEAH I KNOW THAT THE FIGHT WASN'T REALLY IN THIS BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? IT JUST MEANS THAT YOU ALL WILL JUST HAVE TO REVIEW TO GET THE BRILLIANT FIGHT SCENE OUT WON'T YA?

MWAHAHAHA I THINK I DID A PRETTY DESENT JOB ON IT BUT I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK. I WAS PLANNING ON MAKING IT LONGER AND HAVING THE ENTIRE FIGHT BE IN THIS CHAPTER BUT HEY, WHAT CAN I SAY? I'M TITLED TO A FEW CLIFFIES NOW AND AGAIN.

**THE LITTLE BOY THAT SAI KEEPS SEEING, YOU KNOW THE HOMELESS, TELEPATHIC FIVE YEAR OLD? WELL, HE IS GOING TO BE A REGULAR CHARACTER IN THIS STORY SO IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST ANY NAMES WOULD BE APPRECIATED BECAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO CALL HIM.**

**ANYWAY THERES CHAP. 12 PLEASE REVIEW**

JA NE


	13. Chapter 13

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking__ or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

**I command you all to read the little note at the end of the story it is essential that you do!!!!**

Chapter 13

Oblivious to the destructive action continuing on about a couple hundred kilometers away from where they stood in Amegakure, Rain Country the strange pair walked on. One was taller than the other and they were both slim, shadowed from the bright light of the full moon because of the very thick canopy covering. There was a boy standing beside a man, a man who radiated such malice that the child didn't dare say anything to piss him off.

The man had spiked orange colored hair, his sharp face held in a layer of ice to keep that one motionless expression. Nine earrings were beaded into each lobe, a thick bar going through the caritiladge in each ear. Three piercings gleaming like starlight on each side of the bridge of his nose, two vampiric piercings breaking through his bottom lip. His red eyes were dark, surrounded by layers of circles as they stared straight ahead as they marched on through the small village.

His attire was the main thing that frightened everyone away. His large black cloak with the red clouds, and the anti rain forehead protector on his forehead.

He was Pein. The leader of the atrocious yet genius band of Ataksuki, the man who wanted to bring the world into piece, lead them there through first, a world of pain.

Yes, it would be best to not anger him as they walked together. Alone. While all the village people stayed home, too terrified to sleep, too terrified to leave…far too terrified of their village leader Pein.

Their notorious leader had plucked him right out from under his home that night, his parents didn't do a thing to stop him, neither did his siblings, despite the none too quiet little expirements the Atasuki do with their freshly caught demons. It got so very loud sometimes at night. Especially on full moons like today.

It didn't really matter to Itsuki all that much though, he realized as he followed the silent man out the gates of the village and into the dark rain forest. He had gotten so sick of this life…so sick of being scared, of not being able to do anything. So tired of how everyone always thought for themselves…he was planning on ending it all that night anyway so if their leader had decided to use him for something dangerous, perhaps through him in with a caged biju…who is he to complain?

He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the small wooden cabin, crushed in by the thick vines and bushes and trees up ahead.

"My group and I have discussed a few things."

Itsuki looked up, than back down, his eyes wide as he reprimanded himself. Never, look at your superiors, especially into the eyes of Pein.

Pein opened the wooden door, allowing Itsuki a glimpse of black polished fingernails, another recognizable trait of the Ataksuki. He waltzed on into the room and the child followed, knowing that he had no choice.

The place was small, the one room as large as the family room of a regular house. A small fireplace with so far nothing in it, a comfortable looking black leather couch placed against the far wall next to a closed door. Another leather couch of the same size sat vertically to the other on the wall the closed door was, a few wooden chairs were thrown around the room and a table sat in the center of all the attention. But that was it. Just a few chairs and couches and dark brown walls and a v tipped ceiling with a curved in dirt floor.

Where were the other members of the group?

Almost as if he was reading his mind Pein spoke up, his voice deep and sultry. "My friends are back in the village at the moment, making sure no one had tried to leave or follow us, do you know why I have made the rule that no one from this village is allowed to leave this village without a consort from me or my associates?"

He looked down than, and Itsuki shivered as those bright and strange eyes met his, bore into his and demanded an honest answer, and they both knew the truth….the easiest way to tell if someone is lying to you is in their eyes.

"Y-Yes Sir," Itsuki stuttered and trembled as his upper lip broke out in a sweat, making sure to maintain eye contact. "I-It is so th-that the other-the other nations don-do not come and find that yo-your org-organ-organization reside here s-Sir. A-and then so-so they don't de-destroy us for, for the fact that we-we ho-housed you."

Pein narrowed his eyes for a moment before nodding and gingerly patting the boy on the head, "Good."

Stepping over to the closed door Pein said with his back to the shuddering and heavily perspirating boy, "You see, in order to bring all the great nations into a world of piece they need to go through the ultimate pain. The ultimate test the ultimate sacrifice. And the best way to do that is with the help of the nine demons." He turned back to Itsuki. "And that child is where you come in."

"Huh? Wh-What do you mean Sir?"

"You seemed to be one of the few who, really hate this life of yours, this rule I've made-ah", he raised his hand and gave a slight shake of his head as Itsuki opened his mouth, his eyes wide, "Don't protest it. I know you want to get out of here, out of this prison little village. Well this is your chance. You can go and be free, learn all sorts of little things you can't here. You just have to do me one little favor."

"Wh-what do you w-want me to do Sir?"

The master smiled, nothing major, just the corner of his mouth lifting up but still it managed to drive goose bumps down Itsuki's back. "It's simple really, you see behind this door lays a little animal and I need to see if you will be compatible together. If you are you are free to go and do as you please, if you are not, well you will just have to go back to the village."

Itsuki gulped before nodding, "O-okay."

Pein's smile grew, and he opened the door, gesturing for the boy to go through.

Itsuki passed through the doorway jumping as the door was slammed behind him. Immediately once it was shut the boy was freezing, left gasping for breath as the iciness of the area left him. Lights flooded the room, they were small bulbs connected to the ceiling that led down at a tilted horizontal angle. He was standing on a very small platform and his light weight clothing, a thin t-shirt and ratted pants did nothing for the harsh temperature of the stairwell. His breaths came out in white puffs with every exhale and it hurt his lungs to inhale and he knew his nose was turning red.

He kept his arms tucked in close to his chest, his hands hidden under his arm pits as he attempted to contain in whatever body heat he still had as he shivered wildly and slowly started to descend the old, yet very sturdy wooden stairs. As he continued down for what seemed like forever the temperature only dropped further, no doubt giving his skin a blue tinge and he barely noticed the slight dripping sound coming from ahead nor the literal ice covering on the walls and ceiling.

As he finally hit the last stair he found himself in a narrow hallway which was once black before what he guessed sensors in the walls detected his presence and activated the glowing lights on the frozen ceiling above giving light to the dark tunnel. Blue white ice coated everything except the floor thankfully, mostly a device used to prevent slips as the Atasuki make their way around this strange arctic area. He marched on, the cold beginning to almost not even affect him anymore even though mucus was dribbling from his nose and his eyes were half lidded.

He reached the end of the tunnel and gasped.

It was no heaven.

The room was incredibly large, the entire thing built like a giant dome. Frozen stalagmites littered the ceiling and walls, ice decorating the room like a hockey rink and a mote surrounded the little icy island in the center of the room with no doubt very cold water. There was a thick jacket hanging on a convently yet out of placed coat rack to his right and he draped it over himself, basking in its warmth that seemed untouchable by the cold. Another out of place object was a door, a large wooden door at the back of the room.

But then he caught sight of the animal on the island. Jaw dropping and eyes wide he nearly cried, they really had decided to just throw him in with a demon!

Shukaku shivered, his sand like fur cracking under the intense cold these bastards had place him in after they extracted him from his precious Gaara. Those fucking ice stalagmites were so close to piercing his back and he was literally stuck there what with the water around him and the climate that he wasn't used to…

He was made of sand damn it! He can't touch water he'd crumble and turn into mud! He doesn't like the cold because he is from the desert! The desert is warm and sunny and full of sand damn it! Not cold and dark and full of fucking ice and even more fucking icy water!

After shouting his drunken complaints to anyone who would listen (who was nobody) he used his intecutality to realize…his chakra won't get him out of this mess. So ultimately, he doomed himself to sleep on the very cold and very icy patch of land that the Atatsuki had 'politely' given.

That was until his dark blue ears twitched and jerked forward at the sharp childish squeak.

Lifting his head and turning towards the sound he found himself surprisingly to be face with a very frightened…well child. Still lying down he narrowed his golden eyes at the boy taking in the blue face, brown hair and beady black eyes and small mouth. He was shivering where he stood in nothing but ninja sandals, torn up pair of light brown breaches and an ice temperature proofed green coat.

"Y-Y-Y-You-You-you-you're a-a-a-a-a-a"

Shukaku sighed irritably and rested his head back on his front paws, his tail swishing slightly in aggravation around his engorged belly. "Yeah kid, I'm a demon. The One Tailed Shukaku is my name or if you want to call me in the Ataksuki fashion it's Ichibi, other than that I don't really care just shut yer face up."

The kid immediately shut up, his eyes wide as he slowly edged closer to the giant raccoon dog. "I-I don't understand…" his low and soft voice drifted off as he stared confounded at the beautiful blue calligraphy wrapping around Shukaku's entire body.

"You don't understand what brat?" Perhaps it was his sharp and high pitched slurs that got the kids attention, but true to his drunken name he didn't really care if the kid was there or not he just wanted freedom, to kill and to sleep out his never ending hangover. Damn that priest he was in the human life….

"Well, you see, you're a demon-"

"Yeah? Tell me sumetin' I'm not aware of kid."

"You're not trying to kill me and you're just lying there without any restrictions, why don't you leave? Or why don't you kill me? It'd be doing me a favor."

Shukaku looked back up that, his eyes skimming the boys face and height and weight. He scoffed mentally, the kid looked like he was only fifteen and yet here he was underweight and basically asking a demon to eat him. Stupid, idiotic, fascinating little boy.

"Trust me I would kill ya' and eat ya' if this ice and water wasn't around. I'm a sand demon kid, one who can't live near water and ice or I get sick and can't do nothing. I can't move because of this place, the temperature has warn me down and why the hell would you want me to eat ya' anyway?"

The boy seemed to curl a little into himself at the last question and he looked away from the golden gaze. "I'm sorry about your situation Sir. I really am. And well, there's nothing in this life for me, my village is under a dictatorship by the one I'm guessing locked you in here." He looked back up into Shukaku's eyes and sat down cross legged, wincing as the cold slipped through his clothing. "My family doesn't really seem to care about me, I've done so much for them, I've played with my younger and older siblings, helped my parents with the Ataksuki and sure they're appreciative and all hugs and kisses when I'm doing it but when I need help they just ignore me, they don't even acknowledge it."

Crunching up his nose he kicked a small piece of ice into the water, listening to the soft plinking sound as it landed. "I'm just tired of it, and now Pein wants me to do something for him…and I'm apparently supposed to be compatible with you or something whatever that means…."

The demon's eyes widened as he grasped the concept of compatibility. "Trust me kid, it would be better off if you died than do what they wanted you to do. Ya' see, what they want is for you to become a vessel, a host for me to live inside of you," Shukaku looked into the shocked face of the boy.

Shukaku smiled, his zigzagged lips that are as strong as pure bone teeth lifting at the corners, his rough face getting a little softer, looking more like a cuddly raccoon dog. "Yeah, they want to use you, place me into you and then drop you in some unknown country or village, most likely drug you so you pass out so I'll take over and tear everything a part. That's what they want with us demons', they're planning on having us attack areas and then they'll come to the rescue, gaining more power and land as they go."

The boy stood rapidly to his feet shaking his head, tears spilling over his eyes. "My mom always told me that demons were untrustworthy and the only good they would do would be to lie to us and then kill us once they have our trust."

"Kid," Shukaku waited until he had the boy's teary attention, heh, with that tear stained and absolutely despaired face he reminded him so much of Gaara…so much of his little precious Gaara…he could allow some of that special affection onto this brat. "You just said yourself that your leader is a dictator, and even worse he is the leader of the Ataksuki as well and by far the worst crime was to send you down here to see if we would work well together in the same body. And your parents don't help you with anything you just said that yourself, and I'm just sitting here talkin' with ya', so who's really the bad guy here?"

The human gulped and wiped away his tears, his lower lip trembling as walked around the island towards the back door Shukaku never leaving his eyes off him. He turned back to him, his eyes happy and his mouth smiling, "My name is Itsuki Shiozi. Thank you, and please, since I am doing you this favor…can you complete mine?"

The demon nodded and Itsuki opened the door, letting in nothing more than complete darkness as a wall of earth met their faces. Immediately the child's face fell but then Shukaku's body slowly started to dissolve, the ton's of weight shredding down into rivers of sand that fled and bled into the earth, a patch of it staying behind with a happy Itsuki, only to do as the child wished and plunge through cloth, skin and heart.

Shukaku drove forward, digging through the rock and minerals and dirt his drive…Gaara is still alive. He knows he is and he will find his pup!

_CRUNCH!_

Bright blue and red exploded in the air as the two powers crashed into each other, Gaara's crackling black chakra literally thrashing against Orochimaru's bright blue. Sasuke could only stare in shock as they tore at each other, Orochimaru trying to attain enough time to get away so he could summon up some chakra but Gaara just wouldn't allow it.

The Uchiha prodigy couldn't believe his eyes as his mentor was suddenly flung out into the forest, clearing a path of at least one thousand feet deforestation. His wings flapped a bit to keep him in the air as the sand from the imploded disemboweled mountain gradually turned thick and black. Only a second earlier Gaara had looked somewhat normal but now!

Now he looked like some kind of animal! Four six foot long tails whiplashed around him, his clothing all but gone, hidden underneath the undulating chakra around him as well as the layers of red and black fur. His hands were now paws as well his entire body beautifully muscled as the kanji on his head glowed a brighter bloody shine than the rest of his red fur.

Snakes of all sizes suddenly exploded from the area Orochimaru landed, anaconda's vipers and constrictors and venomous species of every kind came flying at rapid speed towards the demon. Sasuke couldn't move. He was stuck in place, in awe of this, this...this thing before him. The snakes were moving in rapid pace, the smaller venomous ones on the first lines, mouths open two top fangs bared with drips of their acidic neurotoxins saying hello. A loud growl made its way from Gaara's throat as they made their approach, his entire body still excluding his tails as he continued to float on the air.

And then the reptiles hit.

With a series of hisses and crashes and squelching and squealing Sasuke had to fight the urge to block his ears from the vicious vocal session of Gaara's demonic jaguar yowls and the snakes pain filled shrieks as the dark sand flew through the air to the commotion and the tails thwacked the heads off the large anacondas. The serpents fell to the ground, Gaara following suit, the only creature not poofing away or even displaying a single show of pain.

Not one single fang was able to pierce his skin.

He crouched down on the grass, his body taught as he slowly stalked towards the forest on all fours, his entire body screaming that it knew that it was the predator. As the creature disappeared into the forest and the ocean of sand crawled in after him he understood what made the animals from before run away…they had known that Gaara of the Desert was indeed a force to be reckoned with and one not lightly.

He shook his head, deciding that he had no loyalties to Orochimaru and that the only thing that mattered to him was living long enough to kill his older brother Itachi. He left.

Gaara remained perfectly quiet as he entered the forest, going in the same direction as the demolished wood just not in its path. His instincts were telling him to stay alert, aware, quiet and vigilant (CONSTANT VILIGAGENC! HAHA SRY HAD TO DO THAT HP FOREVER WOOH!) so as to not disturb or enlighten his prey. He enjoyed this, this power that was coursing through his body, it was electrifying and raw and just absolutely wonderful. He felt as if his muscles were twitching and restless, his back and front paws, his tails and his jaw absolutely itched for the meat of his prey…. Hmm, perhaps a bit too giddy…

His eyes skimmed over the entire area, trying to search out his little toy, his eyes taking in everything so fast and his mind processing just as fast it was like a twisting magnifying glass. His tails moved silently behind him, gently swaying as they passed his hind paws. Sniffing gently he picked up strange and different animal scents along with the water and ash but no human. His ears twitched with every little sound that was made, though every animal was already long gone, the creatures not ignorant enough to stay in the path of an enraged demon.

Especially the path of an angry and still developing demon…one that still needed a certain amount of meals to grow healthy and strong and was looking for something particularly…yummy.

He passed around a rather large oak, curling around it like a cat would a human's leg to gain affection, _come on out little snake…I won't bite…much._He tilted his head and sniffed the air again before a primitive snarl made its way onto his snout as he made a mad dash forward. His muscles moved like fluid motion his chakra pounding through the air straining against trees and tearing away their bark, the grass and leaves obliterating on touch.

_There you are! _Green eyes surrounded by black narrowed as they locked onto the bright glow of white skin some three hundred meters ahead of him before widening miraculously. _What the hell?!_

A large dark blast came flying up out of the trees at him a raging inferno that ate everything in its path. Yowling Gaara jumped up and away from the attack following the snake's movements as the sannin moved towards him. _So the little snake wants to play eh? Then let's play!_

They both landed on two strong and sturdy branches, their trees a couple meters apart. Gaara made a strange cackling slash hacking sound as he laughed at the other's appearance. Long dark hair flown up like he played with electricity, his skin peeled almost completely, parts of his clothing ripped off and a downright pissed off look in his golden eyes.

"Tell me Gaara," oh yes the man was very indeed pissed off, "Normally it takes some time before demons develop a certain amount of tails and yet you had just…popped out four without problem! How is that possible?"

Gaara sat proudly, a grin coming across his feline face, "_Simple. When I was trying harder to preserve my mind I sat in a cocoon of seals that pressed back the larger amounts of transformation._"

The snake legend nodded in understanding and perhaps respect. "I see." He rose his eyebrow and chuckled a bit. "How a-bout we-curgh"

Gaara interrupted his sentence by suddenly launching himself off the branch he was sitting on and threw his head into the other's gut. Orochimaru was about to fly back from the pressure but each of Gaara's four tails wrapped around each of his limps, rendering him motionless.

The sannin coughed and spluttered up blood in surprise shocked by not only the attack but the sudden closeness of the demon. It was only then that Orochimaru fully realized just how big his teeth were, how Gaara's top and bottom corner teeth reached both upper and lower lip. His hackles were raised displaying the pink gums and sharp fangs as he glared at him. He tried moving his arms and legs but the more force he put into the resistance the more pressure the tails put on him, nearly crushing the limps off entirely.

"_I expected more of the great three ninja legends. __Too be caught so easily __heh__. I'm ashamed."_

Orochimaru smirked but said nothing further as a bulge began to appear in his neck.

Gaara's eyes narrowed, the bright orbs watching as the bulge slowly moved up the ninja's jugular like a snake and then what do you know a bright green snake actually threw itself out of his mouth and the reptile wrapped its body around its masters neck two beady black eyes glaring into green.

_Well, that's interesting._

"It's not even the best part," Orochimaru grinned further before the snake started regurgitating "You see, I'm not that easy to kill."

_Thump_

Gaara made a low sound in his throat when the feeling started up again.

_Thump. Move…now…_

Growling Gaara jumped back, his tails relinquishing their hold of the legends arms and legs just as a large silver blade jumped out of the snakes belly leaving the sannin to catch the glinted green hilt. Almost immediately the reptile vanished. Spreading his legs apart and getting into a strong stance, the sword's hilt gripped firm Orochimaru's smirk widened. "Care for another go?"

Gaara smiled although the look seemed far more sinister on a jaguar's furry face, and relaxed, looking away as if Orochimaru wasn't even there.

It appears, that the legend has forgotten the important factor about Sabuku no Gaara.

His sand.

In a wildly rushing sound an arm of black sand came bursting from underneath Orochimaru's tree, the sediment ripping the trunk as well as the branch and sannin off the forest floor and into the air. Gaara lounged in his tree just like a jaguar, his tails and paws hanging off the branch while his head rested languidly against his bicep, eyes closed and a fanged smirk on his face as his tails swished back and forth, the chakra still bubbling around him just slightly beginning to bellow a bit more intensely.

Orochimaru yelped and screamed as the sand threw him around like a rag doll, playing catch with him in front of the moon's milky surface which he had the sudden feeling was laughing at him. Every time he tried to move away another arm would just come up out of nowhere and grab a hold onto one of his limps and _tug._ Growling he realized that his sword was relatively useless right now, especially seeing as how it was just forcefully torn out of his grip. He watched as his precious slab of metal fell to the ground before the sand devoured it like molten lava. In desperation he chose to do one last thing to save his life.

"_SASSSUUUUKKKKKKEEEEE!!!!"_

Why? Why was he not coming?! Gold eyes skimmed the area as he was thrown up into the air only to be caught by his right arm, the sand grabbing the limp in such a way it nearly tore it off.

Sasuke wasn't there. He wasn't there! The only things that were there was the deadly ocean of matted black sand underneath him that churned and reached out with knobby little hands and sharp little claws at him, the lake was completely bypassed by the sand but the grass was smothered. The sand, the water, the forest and that Kami forsaken moon!

And of course Gaara how could he forget the one doing this to him in the first place?

BUT HOW COULD SASUKE LEAVE HIM LIKE THIS?! IN HIS TIME OF NEED?!

The sand hissed suddenly as a large platform of it stopped right in front of him, and the arms holding him stopped, leaving him upright, panting and suddenly extremely low of chakra and energy. How? He had far more chakra a few seconds ago!

A figure settled on the sand in front of him and he looked into Gaara's green eyes. _"__Tell me, how does it feel to be constricted by something? If you like I can configure my sands into the shape and feel of a snake so it's not so uncomfortable for you. __And as for your sudden fatigue__ m__y sand absorbed your chakra human. Thanks for the energy boost though I really didn't need it," _the beast smirked and flexed his paws as he said this and Orochimaru went limp, his jaw wide with shock.

"You…you're not the brat at all right now are you?"

The demon positively trilled throwing back his head and allowing the silvery wisps of the moon to trace the small spots adorning the red and black coat. _"Oh, I am __Gaara__ old man it's just…,"_ he brought his head back down and the most horrid of expressions filled those green eyes. The look of hatred piled upon hatred, bloodlust and thousands of years of nothing but evil and anguish. _"I'm not the __Gaara__ that you or your little __Sasuke__ knew from before. Oh! Have you realized yet that he abandoned you? Left you to your fate? Smart little boy isn't he? __Kukukku_

_"You see, I'm tired of not getting what I want. And the __Gaara__ that you all knew was always locking me up inside never letting me out to play or to grow into this gorgeous being that I'm growing up to be," _he brought his front paws over his body to display what he meant. _"Everyone was always so scared of me. I was always such a sweet little thing, doing everything I could to keep others happy and maybe to even play with me, always thinking that today's the day I'm no longer alone! But that day never came. Everyone still screamed and ran away, calling for their parents or siblings, playing games with their friends…and I was still left all alone__ to sit on the swings and hold my teddy bear close."_

The creature stilled allowing Orochimaru to fully take a look of this thing before him. The beast's head was down in a moment of sadness and a show of vulnerability though he knew it was just that a show, the sand was still threateningly tight and did not plan on letting go. His face had grown out, stretched into a small muzzle with very sharp teeth and a small black nose, his ears seemed to fit more on the feline head and a small trace of whiskers were visible on his brow and snout. He was sitting on the sand cloud, his shoulders slumped with his muscular paws still outstretched, inch long claws still out in the open. The four tails were hanging loose by his side, sagging in an almost depressed sort of way. His entire body had changed from a human's to that of a jaguar's, no doubt the skeletal structure transformed as well. The chakra was fluttering around him, translucent and liquid and strong as stone around his form, just like the beautifully crafted red and black fur that blended into spots on top of his tough skin.

This was a child.

Than…than the posture changed.

The defeated, submissive and vulnerable demeanor changed into something ugly and that head lifted back up until those livid and blood thirsty eyes met his, those razor sharp teeth clenched and the posture as stiff as well, anything crazed enough getting ready to pounce out of its cage and attack the one who captured them.

_"I thought I was protected…I thought I had a friend but I didn't. My uncle, he always loved me cared for me and for what?! To try and murder me that was what my uncle wanted to do he wanted me dead! Dead and gone so he could have his sister's death revenged! He killed himself to. Killed himself trying to take me with him but my real friend wouldn't allow it! My real friend protected me from everything! He protected me from getting hurt and by teaching me that no one was to trust! He was inside me all along and after that night I went away, into a room where it was only __Shu__ and me!__ And then an older, smarter __me__ came out and he didn't let anyone hurt us! They both protected me, __Shu__ and him! __And all of us, we revenged mommy's death! We revenged her death by killing others!_

_"Until another __me__ came out but he didn't do anything for me. He learned to make friends with others despite the fact that they could betray and hurt us! He made new friends and never let me come out to play with them! He never let me do anything! He had the chance to be happy and yet he didn't take it!__ And worse, he stopped killing! He stopped revenging mommy! _

_"Then __Shu__ disappeared! And then the first me, the one who protected me disappeared and all I was left with was this new one who only got worse and worse!"_

Orochimaru actually trembled and was horrified with himself for doing so. This was indeed a very young child screaming at him from an enraged demon jaguar's body, no other age group over seven would scream and holler out their emotions and life's problems to a complete stranger. The chakra was swirling faster around him now and the sand was squeezing painfully tight, bones were starting to crack –oh good Kami no! NO!

The jaguar's body was hunching over, the front paws moving until they covered the muzzle and eyes as the child whimpered in pain in an animalistic voice. The child's butt was up in the air due to his crouched position, his four tails swinging wildly as something long and white suddenly broke out of his small back to join them, the black chakra immediately coming over to swarm around it, twitching and working over it until muscle and skin stitched themselves together and fur sprouted over the newly swept red and black tail.

Five tails. He was dealing with an emotionally traumatized five, six, seven year old child with five fucking tails…

The boy lowered his paws and raised his head, the crazed look shining in the eyes that blinded like head lights far more sinister as saliva threaded down the fur of his chin. _"But it's all better now isn't it mister? __Shu__ may be gone, big me may be gone but as long as the last me is gone everything is going to be alright. Just like what mommies say to their babies in their cribs. You know we watched them do that? We watched them singing their babies to sleep at night and I wanted so bad for that baby to be me at times so I got rid of the baby and older me, eight year old me__ transformed us into the baby and we crept into the crib and we got the attention. But __then the mommies and villagers got angry and tried to kill us some more but __Shu__ didn't let them." _

The sand convulsed, twisting around him harder and harder until his bones began to grind and he had to grit his teeth. Kami he was in the mercy on one fucked up baby. A baby demon at that! The demon suddenly drew in a breath and stood up straight and proud, his tails curling in every which direction, his legs corded with muscle and ribs showing in the wonderful outline.

_"You wanted to feed me the hearts of your enemies didn't you mister? So you could be known as the ultimate warrior?" _Those deadly green eyes gleamed maliciously down into his frightened gold and the grin on that animal face grew, showing all those deadly teeth. _"You don't get the chance to feed the heart to the caged jaguar mister__ no one does__. The jaguar shall never be caged again. __Night- night!"_

Then, that large jaw opened wide, saliva connecting overly large fangs as a long blood red tongue came into view and that head came down to crash against his skull. Orochimaru screamed as teeth pierced the sensitive skin of his head and dug deep, blood welling and flowing freely down his face and neck as they went through layer and layer until they hit solid bone and he finally heard the chainsaw drill as they dug through his skull. Then the brilliant shriek of downright agony as they pierced his fleshy brain, the fangs ripping through the delicate organ until they met in his flesh and tugged. There was the feeling of the painful tugging of uprooting a tree's roots from the earth until the mouth and everything with it came free and a sudden, wonderful feeling of numbness came over him and everything went black.

Gaara mewed quietly as he dropped the skull, chunk of brain and hair and flesh onto the sand, licking the messy residue off his furry face. He looked up into the sky an innocent smile coming into play as he stared into the great silver white moon. _"I'll make you proud of me mother! Just keep watching me!"_

…. I'M FUCKING CRAZY! ...DAMN….WELL I LIKED IT ANYWAY POOR LITTLE GAARA IS FINALLY GETTING HIS FUN ALOUD EH? AND WHAT HAPPENED TO SASUKE WHERE DID HE GO? WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SAND'S ANBU? WILL THE RIVER COUNTRIE'S NINJAS' HEAR ALL THIS COMMOTION WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THEM? WHAT ABOUT SHUKAKU AND THE ATAKSUKI? WILL THEY FIND GAARA? YOU HAVE TO FIND OUT!

SORRY I'M FEELING KINDA WEIRD RIGHT NOW AFTER BEING SICK FOR A WEEK STRAIGHT…THOUGH I THINK THIS IS ACTUALLY MY BEST CHAPTER, AT LEAST GAARA'S PSCHO MOMENTS.

**PLEASE ****PLEASE**** REVIEW AND …**

**GO TO MY PROFILE! THERE IS A POLL THERE ON WHAT TO NAME LITTLE HOMELESS TELEPATHIC BOY WHO FOLLOWS SAI AROUND!**

**REVIEW!!!! PLEASE. OR I WON'T UPDATE!**


	14. Chapter 14

Summary: Shukaku is gone…Gaara's dying but he's alive…What's happening? He's gone but Gaara's body and mind are changing being corrupted by something deep within his blood…

Warning: blood violence swearing

"speaking"  
thinking as well as normal stuff

_Demons speaking or real intense things_

Disclaimer: I do not own naruto or any of his characters though I wish I did

A/N: thanks so far to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me it really does. I'm sure none of you really care about these things so let's just get on with the story shall we?

Chapter 14

Naruto yawned as he stretched out on his bed. His body was sore from all the hits the old ladies threw at him in the institute and for some strange reason Kyuubi didn't seem to want to heal the minor injuries. In fact the fox was acting rather strange, lately he's been constantly turning around in his head bustling about as if something was bothering him or something.

Oh well.

He turned on his side and closed his eyes snuggling contentedly into the soft pillow while burrowing underneath the cozy blankets. It felt kinda nice to punch Sai out earlier as well…even though Temari made him carry the artist back to his apartment after… At least he got the frustrations out right?

A sound made him open his eyes. A soft cracking and crunching noise was wafting into his ears and his blue eyes landed on the table beside his bed.

The light of the full moon made the already bright numbers in his clock glow an alien green 12:00 midnight and the lights cast shadows around the darkened room. But his eyes were drawn to the picture on the stand, the picture of himself, Sakura, Kakashi and Sasuke back when they first became a team.

Sakura, Kakashi and the picture Naruto were fine, all smiling the glass covering perfectly clear but Sasuke's was not. The glass surrounding the Uchiha's scowling figure was cracking and chipping until a jagged line was cut clean through the handsome face and another running up a symmetrical line up his chest.

A very, _very _bad feeling of dread filled his heart at this uncomfortable omen.

Kyuubi's instincts were running haywire as he continued to walk in circles, his fur standing on end and his tails swishing about in a mad dance. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. His host may not sense it but with his sensitive awareness was able to feel the wrongness of something in the air. The air particles were ripping themselves apart, thrashing wildly with random bouts of chakra embedded within them.

The moon wasn't helping much either. His already jumpy nerves were frantic, bouncing around with restlessness as he craved to just go out and do something. Anything! And plus, that image in the moon's surface wasn't doing him any good. Those shadows and crevasses caving and forming into the strong features of those of a proud and angry woman.

Looking through the blonde's eyes he was able to see the cracked face of Sasuke Uchiha. Whatever was wrong had something to do with him, that much the demon was sure of.

Naruto turned away from the picture and onto his other side so he was facing the open window. His already narrowed eyes narrowed further when the Kyuubi suddenly stopped moving altogether, freezing in place. A gust of wind blew into the room and played with the blankets covering his form. A second, stronger blast flitted through the window and ruffled the panda sleeping hat on his head, causing him to instincivally close his eyes.

As the wind stopped blowing he reopened them and automatically knew that he wouldn't get any sleep tonight as his eyes widened and he could feel with the sudden rise of apprehension from his mind that the demon fox's eyes had widened as well.

The wind had apparently carried something with it while it blew into his room….For a small mound of sand littered his pillow.

Gaara stretched out his form, the bloody body of the snake ninja dropping from the small platform of his sand to fall into the ocean down below. The sediment greedily swallowed the body up, covering and crushing the broken form until it was nothing but a pile of gore underneath the undulating currents of bloodied sand.

Licking his lips clean of the blood and flesh he jumped down off the platform, landing neatly on the solidifying sand. _"All she's askin', is for a little more time," _Gaara grinned as he sung the verse softly tapping his claws into the sand as his stomach growled at him in displeasure.

Shukaku had sung him many lullaby's when he was still with him, to help calm and lull the child into sleep and this song was one of the one's he remembered the most. He didn't know why but this particular one had always reminded him of his mother's predicament when she was pregnant with him. He pulled back his lips as his stomach gave a nasty churn, the muscles obviously wanting to reject the snake ninja.

For a sannin Orochimaru was a very easy kill…and he tasted horrible to boot. The child sat on his haunches with his chakra still in turmoil around him as he pawed at his mouth trying to get the horrible taste off his tongue. He tasted as if he had been alive for many, many years and like all meat had gone stale. Trying to ignore the aching feeling in his gut he rubbed at his forehead, trying to make the small throbbing stop and to make the steady stream of blood flow from the ai.

_To walk away from his anger, and leave the bruises far behind. _The black power thrashed and convulsed, the sand rising into the air in distressed waves as he got back onto all fours, his fur bristling and throat aching. Hacking the child felt tears spring to his eyes as his gut twisted and churned, forcing the rather small snack back up and out.

Shuddering even after the lump of regurgitated gore landed in a disgusting heap in front of his face he hobbled away, his body trembling with hunger and restless strength. _Shu I miss you… _Rounded ears twitched as the sound of pounding feet and rustling leaves penetrated the sensitive organs. Turning to face the direction his glowing green eyes narrowed as they zeroed in, similar to the byuakugan, on the group of oncoming river ninja.

Eight, they only sent two teams to investigate how unbelievably stupid! Ha, and what makes it even more humorous and yet pathetic at the same time was that six of them were just your average day genin!

The grin returned onto his face as he turned slowly to face the oncoming meal, his chakra lifting up into the sky like a dark cloud, electric in its power and fury. The moon glinted at him from its vantage point, winking and encouraging him to eat his nutrition's, just like a mother would scold her child.

"_But she won't talk about it she's made up her mind."_

Tightening his muscles and snarling he bounded forward, his tails whiplashing behind him as the air stream past him and whistled. Sand and chakra followed, each forming into a graceful current in the air as he ran at top speed towards the group coming after him.

Who knows, seeing as how these people seemed to be particularly young perhaps they would taste much better, juicer even. The forest cleared a path for him, the trees and shrubbery bending and curving from the force of his chakra and the sand that shredded them apart and only two hundred meters ahead was the incoming shinobi.

Lips pulled back and teeth bared in a hungry smile he wheezed as the group suddenly stopped, their faces pulled tight in shock. It's about time that they noticed his chakra after all kukuku.

His eyes widened when his heart gave a sudden pull his lower jaw dropping as strange electric shocks rippled through him. He planted his feet onto the ground, commanding the sand to move in front of his legs to help stop his momentum. His heart thudded in his chest, his tails swishing softly from side to side in thoughtless movement, his head bowed and his large green eyes surrounded by midnight black were wide.

Spears were driving themselves into his sides and the sand thrashed restlessly like twitching fingers all around him, his chakra glowing and sparkling in the light of the moon that slipped in from the canopy. Like a dog he shook his head, his brain pounding making the ach from the scar seem like cool water.

Words were whispering in through his mind, echoing throughout the endless desert and protective confines of his own skull.

'Naruto Uzumaki, I swear that if I find Sasuke Uchiha before you…I will keep him in place long enough for you to collect him.'

_W-what was that?! _

Shaken Gaara exhaled through his nostrils letting out a puff of breath and pulling back his lips allowing his blood red tongue to loll and fall from the rows of sharp teeth. Shaking and startled he narrowed his eyes not even noticing that the sand seemed to be pushing him back towards the clearing and that his prey from the river country had fled.

That voice, it sounded like his but older, much older, more mature and moral. It would make since if it was his elder that had spoken the words, seeing as how no matter how many personalities he possessed they still held the same core…the endless desert.

Words whispered from any of their mouths, if they were important enough they would make themselves known to the one in charge.

But who was this Naruto Uzumaki?

Sasuke Uchiha was easy to figure out, seeing as how before the ninja died Orochimaru had been shouting out his name so the late snake sannin's companion was the Uchiha.

But what did it mean? Was he supposed to collect him? The child shuddered as his front right paw shifted to the side, twisting his body until it faced the clearing at an angle. In an attempt to get his bearings back he pulled his tongue back into his mouth before muttering quietly another verse, _"As the front door shuts behind her, she whispers, give me a sign." _

His left front paw followed the first and soon he found himself completely facing the clearing, his head bowed and his green irises glowing brighter. His stomach growled at him in hunger, his body begging for nutrition.

He was Sabuku no Gaara, and ever since birth he had been propositioned to take care of himself, get his own food when he was hungry, find his own entertainment when he was bored and get his own beverages when he was thirsty. He had always liked the chase for some reason, perhaps it was the moon, perhaps it was Shu or perhaps it was just him but the best part about a kill was the hunt. To stalk his prey and even give them a moments chance to think that they had a chance for survival before shredding that hope right out of their bleeding grasp.

It was always the most memorable as well.

After all…what could be better than their expressions? The half lipped smile and sparkle of hope in their eyes as they escaped and then in a flash, disappearing only a fraction slower than when the predator appears. The relieved smile would turn into a horror filled gape and their eyes went wide with fright.

Orochimaru had been too easy to kill. Yes, the expressions were nice but he was caught all too quickly, and even now, with his cat like mind that made him all the more disappointing and boring. Though his worse crime was that he tasted horrible.

This Uchiha though, now he seemed almost promising. Gaara took a few steps forward a sway following his movements and a fanged grin on his furry face. The boy had already fled before he even got a proper look at him and now that he was a few hours ahead of him it should make the chase all the more interesting.

_I may not know who this Naruto person is but who cares? That boy should be fun, Mother I'll make sure he dies just for you kay? All of his blood will be for you….If only Shu was here, though I bet he'd be proud of me too. _

"_And feels the power of the engine as she climbs to 65."_

A cloud of sand erupted in the air behind him as he took off.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck_.

Sasuke pounded his wings furiously, desperately trying to escape the mayhem he had left behind, the monstrous child that he had left behind. Sure, he was about three hours ahead if the beast decided to come after him, and with his speed he had already crossed the fire border, and on his way he had spotted some sand shinobi but….Obsidian colored eyes glanced up at the sky, his heart pounding where it rested, nestled between his rib cage.

The moon was nothing but an ominous circle of ethereal light in the blackness blanketing it. FUCK! His eyes widened and he willed his wings to beat faster, even pushing down towards the ground so his feet could touch the ground and run, adding extra speed.

The moon had been glaring at him before he was sure, that wraithlike orb contained the power to influence animals and demons alike was furious with him for escaping one of her children's ravenous stomachs. For some reason that had given him a feeling of hope, for if it was angry at him, no doubt he was safe, that Gaara had stayed behind and forgotten about him. Though even with that uplifting thought he still continued to retreat.

Now, ugh, it was laughing at him, sneering at him for thinking that he could escape her grasp. Dread filled him, and he glanced a peek over his shoulder with his sharingan.

Nothing was in sight. For now. And even though he couldn't see him or his chakra and deadly mounds of sand, couldn't hear him…he could still feel him. He could _feel _that starving gaze digging into his back, could almost feel as that sand and solid chakra ground into him…and he _could feel_ those thick teeth digging into his head, leaving a gaping hole like the ones graved in Kabuto.

A strangled whimper tore itself out of his throat, and dignity be damned no one was here to hear it. He only now realized where he was heading, his wings had carried him without his mind as fast as they could from that place and he didn't even realize the direction. All he knew was that he had to escape and how he now knew what those animals in the forest felt like while they ran from the edge of the forest right before Orochimaru had been flung out of the now destroyed tavern.



Konoha. That was the only safe place now even if the ninja tried to kill him he stood a better chance with humans than with Gaara. Even Naruto's chakra filled, angry fist would be a better reprieve from Gaara's fangs and claws.

As he entered another large forest that would hopefully soon display his village of birth a rather foolish and yet reasonable question popped into his mind.

WHY WAS GAARA SO FIXATED ON HIM?! AGAIN!!

The lead ANBU officer stopped and raised his hand, signaling for the others to stop as well. Seven shadows flitted behind the first and ninja with varying animal shaped masks warily searched the area.

The moon was bathing them in her beautiful light, gracing them with a clear view of the terrain. They were on the edge of wind border and river border, not quite in either and goose bumps broke on their skin as they reached for kunai.

There was a cackling feeling in the air, like raw electric plasma and they could almost see the shifts and erratic changes in air currents. That was when it hit them.

The chakra pounding into them from the distance was physical and solid, bearing down on them like heavy weights crushing them to the floor. Gasping and turning from the pressure exerting on them they saw a black cloud coming closer, the cloud shifted and thrashed like dark fog and was drawing nearer, thick rivulets of sand mixed in with it.

The energy seemed to flare before shrinking, the sand becoming clearer and more evident as the darkness crept away to hide from the moon's brilliant smile. A sound like crashing waves and crackling electricity suddenly assaulted the air and their ear drums, animals scurrying away from the ominous whatever it was approaching.

They saw a small flash of red in the distance before something exploded with the sound of a volcanic eruption. They were glued to the spot as the giant orb that had to have had a twenty foot diameter flew towards them, its black surface looking like evaporated liquid and soiled blood.

They had no chance as the ball of destruction crashed into them and everything went dark.

Light was now beginning to chase away the endless darkness of the night sky, the glorious moon shying away from the suns enormous heat. Obsidian, brightened by shades of the lightest of oranges and reds and birds were beginning to sing their morning alarms.

Dark was giving way to light, telling of the beautiful new day.

It was seven in the morning, not that the time was particularly bothering the artist right now for something more pressing was at hand. He had awoken in his apartment at six with a roaring head ache and tumbling nausea after he had relieved himself and drowned out his migraine in pain medicine and had sat on his bed for the rest of the hour.



Sai stared his body stiff and still as he continuously ran the same thoughts over and over through his head. I've gone insane, I've gone insane, I've gone insane, I've gone insane…

You're not helping yourself you know.

His entire body twitched as the telepathic voice spoke in his head again and for Kami's sake he knew that he wasn't helping himself…but neither was this aggravating brat!

You guessed it, that bloody little boy was back but oh no it was worse this time.

There were multiples of him, the kid no doubt the child was playing with him because for one minute there was two of him, than four, than six and than one.

I told you not to follow the blonde's voice, he was just going to hurt you…and I was right wasn't I?

Still twitching the brunette nodded slowly, watching dazedly as the child with overly long bangs covering his still unnoticeable eyes shook his head.

Yeah that woman from before forced him to bring you here, not that you care.

A black eyebrow rose in silent shock, so that Temari person wasn't such a bad girl after all. But it didn't matter, what really mattered at the moment was that he had lost his mind and that this hallucination was only here to prove it to him.

The child moved his head, making it seem as if he was looking around the room. Pictures littered the walls and crumbled up papers flooded the wooden panels on the floor, his med was rumpled showing that Naruto wasn't careful with him when he threw him down. Sai tilted his own head as the child's noggin stopped moving, facing the newly hung up picture on the wall.

The artist turned to see what had caught the boy's attention and he smiled, for once he was actually happy about one of his works.

The demon child, Gaara sat crouched in the pastels, his face pointed towards them with an angry snarl sneered on his lips and an anguished gleam in his eyes. The sky was a deep black, clashing beautifully with his blood red hair and rounded ears. Crimson slowly dripped from the blood drenched claws and his body was facing the destruction that he had caused.

Yes, he had caused the deaths littered around him, the broken and torn forms that screamed for help, to save them. But they had instigated the fight, and were too confident in themselves to realize that they would never claim victory with the red headed demon.

It was done well, though you're not satisfied with it are you?

Sai turned back to the now still and single boy who was facing him once again. "No, no I'm not. I want to capture all of his insecurities and aggressions onto the paper but I'm afraid I won't be able to do that until I see him again, and perhaps even get to talk with him."



The boy nodded before replying. I see…but perhaps you're wish will come sooner than you expected.

Narrowing his brow the artist remarked in confusion, "What do you mean?" When he received no reply except for the shrug of a small shoulder he noticed again the ratty clothing and dirty skin.

"Perhaps you should get back to where ever you're from. You're parents or guardians must be worried sick about you."

The child chuckled and shook his head.

Sorry, but my guardian is actually scared of me and thinks I'm only here to tempt him further into insanity.

Sai smiled at that, the brat's guardian sounded terribly similar to him. "Alright than, you at least have to tell me your name though so if someone calls looking for you I'll know what to call you."

I have no name.

"Oh, well that sucks." The brunette looked down to the floor at that admission silently contemplating on what it would be like to not have a name, to have almost no existence…(but come on folks you remember, just do the poll and you can help our little boy out!)

Before either of them could say another word a loud and persistent knocking came from the door, followed by an equally loud and obnoxious shout from his yellow haired team mate.

Scurrying to his black wood dresser he started pulling out clean clothing and started to dress, hopping on one foot to the door while pulling his pants on.

"SAI! OPEN UP!"

"HOLD ON A MINUTE NARUTO I'M COMIN'!"

Throwing the wooden barrier open he saw both Neji and Naruto, both in their usual attire. Neji had the same emotionless and superior mask plastered on his handsome and rather feminine face where Naruto looked worse for wear.

The blonde's blue eyes were bloodshot and watery, showing just how tired he was, his entire body giving tiny, almost nonexistent jerks and black bags hung under his eyes. A hint of insomnia the night before eh Naruto?

Both boys grabbed a fistful of the artist's belly shirt and pulled him out of the apartment, barely letting him kick the door closed before rushing out of the building. The trio stared on in confusion as they stood in the street just outside the main door to the apartment complex. The day looked fine and cheery and would have stayed that way if not for the stampede of women 

and children and elderly civilians all heading towards the Hokage mountain towards the safe house just inside the large rock.

Sai noted with confusion that the little boy stayed by his side and that neither of his other companions seemed to realize he was there.

"C'mon, let's get on the roofs, we won't cause any collisions that way," as the Hyuga disappeared in a flash the three left behind followed, all four jumping up and on the roofs until they were blurs, at least the elder three did. The child just seemed to float behind them on their heels without either of his feet touching the ground. Maybe the kid wasn't human?

Every street they passed had the same kind of crowd of stampeding villagers as the one they originally came from and they were able to spot other blurs moving over different roofs in the same direction they were heading in.

As the village gate came in view Sai blurted out, "Do either of you have any idea as to what the fuck is going on?"

Naruto looked over his black and orange clad shoulder to talk to him, "No, Grandma just started to go on about how all the old rookie nine were supposed to go in and guard the east gate, of course adding on Neji's team here."

As the group landed on the gate they noticed that everyone else was already there.

Shino Aburame was standing in the shadows of the nearest look out turret, his hood covering his head and the black cloth covering the bottom half of his face, his eyes covered by the black shades. Hinata Hyuga was glancing around at everyone, occasionally asking a question about the situation only to get the same answers that he had received from the number one hyperactive ninja. Her hands were clasped in front of her and her long hair was pulled back in a pony tail.

Kiba Inuzuka wasn't bothering with the task at hand the red striped ninja was crouching against his canine companion looking up at the giant dog in concern and question, his clawed hands running reassuringly down the dog's side. Akamaru was growling, his lips skinned back with his sharp incisors clenched, white fur standing on end. His attention seemed to be glued on the forest where only he was able to sense the oncoming problem.

Ino Yamanaka looked as if she too had just gotten out of bed her blonde hair was unkempt and hanging down her back, her blue eyes blinking at the trees. Choji Akamichi and Shikamaru Nara were standing on either side of their female team mate, their eyes narrowed. Choji was stuffing apple slices into his mouth at an unusually slow pace for him and the genius was warily watching the over sized dog. The shadow user was glancing from Akamaru to the forest and finally to the sky and for once the chunin didn't appear tired or bored at all. It appeared he may even be putting together little tidbits, if any of them were to do so it would be him.



Rock Lee and Tenten were standing with Sakura, the women looking exhausted but alert while the bowl cut haired taijutsu master was wide awake. All three were staring at the clearing, their usual clothing rippling in the soft breeze coming in.

The taunt silence was suddenly broken when Shikamaru spoke up in a commanding tone. "Hinata, Neji, use your byuakugans in order to find out what the hell's got Akamaru so worked up."

The jonin nodded before activating their eye jutsu and focusing them on the large forest. As they all stood silent with only the soft yet ominous growling from the large canine Sai looked back down to his little companion that only he seemed to have the ability to see.

The child had a small smile placed upon his thin lips before he turned from the group.

I told you that you would get to see him again soon.

Before he could question or even think about the meaning of the words the child vanished in his strange and unique way. His attention was drawn back to the forest when twin gasps escaped from the Hyuga cousins' mouths.

CH. 14 IS COMPLETED AND I MUST APOLOGIZE FOR THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TOOK ME TO COMPOSE THIS ONE. GOMEN NASAI.

ANYWAY, I'VE MADE A SHORT STORY TO GO ALONG WITH THIS, IT IS MEANT TO BE BETWEEN THIS CHAP. AND THE LAST. IT IS CALLED YOU'LL BE IN MY HEART AND IT IS AN ELABORATION ON WHAT GAARA SAID LAST CHAPTER.

ALSO, DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE POLL, ONLY TWO PEOPLE HAVE DONE IT AND UNFORUTNATELY THEY ALL CHOSE DIFFERENT ONES SO I CAN'T EXACTLY PICK A WINNER OUT OF IT NOW.

UNTIL THE POLL IS COMPLETED SAI'S LITTLE FRIEND WILL FOREVER BE WITHOUT A NAME.

PLEASE REVIEW AND SEE YOU NEXT TIME

JA NE


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